Engineering Nanomaterials for Environmental Remediation and Energy Conversion

Pollution and energy crisis - these are words we hear almost every day. But this is exactly what our world is facing today. Change and a solution are needed. Nanotechnology, with its ability to manipulate materials at the nanometric scale, can offer promising solutions to these global problems. This thesis presents an in-depth exploration of selected nanomaterials, focusing on their applications in environmental remediation and sustainable energy production. Specifically, the research will investigate the design, synthesis, engineering of photocatalytic and electrocatalytic nanostructures to address critical challenges in wastewater remediation and green hydrogen production. The first part of this thesis examines the theory and application of photocatalytic materials for water remediation. Through the surface engineering of hollow spheres of TiO₂ and the morphology engineering of nanocubes of Ni-HCF, which are environmentally friendly and inexpensive materials, significant improvements in the photocatalytic degradation of pollutants such as ciprofloxacin and metronidazole were achieved. The second part of the thesis explores theoretical and experimental studies of nanomaterials for energy applications, particularly in the context of electrochemical water splitting for hydrogen production. The research involves doping engineering of Ru-Fe₂TiO₅ electrocatalysts and exploiting the catalytic confinement of Ni(OH)₂ and Ru within van der Waals gaps of layered materials such as SnS₂ and MnPSe₃. These approaches resulted in higher catalytic efficiency for water-splitting reactions. These results demonstrate the potential of these nanostructures in various applications and the importance of engineering at the nanoscale to optimise current systems. Thanks to these, it is possible to address pressing global challenges, offering a potential effective pathway towards more efficient catalysis.