Transition metal/metal oxide modified MCM-41 for pollutant degradation and hydrogen energy production: a review

In recent years, metal/metal oxide functionalized mesoporous materials have received increasing attention in science and technology due to their fascinating properties, such as a large surface area, mesoscopic bulky shape, and interconnected porous structures enabling them to be one of the most promising materials for catalysis and photo catalysis. This review summarizes the recent developments in design, preparation and applications of transition metal/metal oxide promoted MCM-41 for production of hydrogen energy and removal of aqueous pollutants. After a brief introduction of these materials and synthetic strategies, their characterizations and applications in aqueous pollutant degradation by photocatalysis/photo-Fenton processes and H-2 energy production by photocatalytic water splitting are summarized. Finally, the future perspectives directions for this promising field are also discussed.