Biogenic synthesis of metal oxide-based photocatalysts for dye removal

Decontamination of organic dyes from industrial products via low cost, environmental benign, and economic approaches is still remained as challenging task to the chemists, materials scientists, and technologists. Thus, many research efforts are in progress to synthesize cost-effective metal oxide nanomaterials as efficient photocatalyst for the decontamination of dye pollutants. Among the various methods, the chemical approaches for the synthesis of metal oxides nanoparticles (NPs) are considered as promising low-cost methods. However, most of chemical methods require toxic chemicals and complicated/expensive experimental setup. Therefore, it is highly essential to develop alternative cost-effective strategies. To alleviate these difficulties, biogenic-based synthesis of metal oxide NPs is highly recognized due to its simplicity, low cost, and environment friendly nature. Biomolecules derived from natural sources play a vital role in the formation of nanoscale materials with control on shapes and sizes. The use of bio-based resources not only reduces the cost of nanomaterial synthesis but also obey the green chemistry principles by reducing the toxic/hazardous moieties. Considering this scenario, the present book chapter targets the biogenic synthesis of NPs and their formation mechanisms. It also focuses on the synthesis of materials from various parts of plants and other living organisms. Center of attention of this book chapter is bio-fabrication of metal oxide with different characteristics and its application for degradation of dye. Importantly, the detailed discussion on current challenges and future prospects is undertaken, which is helpful to further exploration of biogenic approaches for the synthesis of metal oxide NPs and their potential utilization in photocatalytic decontamination of organic dye.