A review of the development of synthesis and catalytic applications of inorganic-organic hybrid nanomaterials: silica and graphene oxide

Abstract

With the growing need to address global threats such as global warming and climate change, the demand for green chemistry has never been greater before. As a result of detrimental human activities including fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, climate change has irreversibly caused an anomalous rise in the average global temperature, extreme weather, and other climate phenomena. In fact, according to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, “It is extremely likely (95% confidence) that human influence on climate caused more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010”. Additionally, the third chapter of IPCC’s Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has also confirmed that other obvious signs of climate change have wrought havoc across the continent as ocean acidification, melting glaciers, and ice sheets continue to emerge while extreme weather phenomenons such as tropical storms, floods, heavy precipitation, heat waves, droughts, cold waves, and snowstorms increase tenfold. To combat this issue, scientists throughout history have developed chemical products and synthesis pathways that aim to minimise the harmful impacts of hazardous substances in industry and healthcare. Specifically, inorganic-organic hybrid nanomaterials with their highly desirable features, such as high activity and selectivity, excellent stability, efficient recovery and recyclability, enable benign catalytic processes and are environmentally friendly. In this paper, a historical perception of the evolution of inorganic-organic hybrid nanomaterials will be discussed as well as the different effective synthesis pathways scientists with diverse expertise have come to discover, focusing on their catalytic applications on a global scale. For instance, using the sol-gel method or hydrothermal synthesis to form silica nanoparticles which can act as catalysts in reactions such as oxidation, reduction, and decomposition.