A mini-review on magnesium alloy-based materials: Recent progress in photocatalysis, mechanistic insight & possibilities in photoreforming of plastic waste

In preceding decades, there has been a trend to prepare non noble metal-based, abundantly accessible, biocompatible nanoparticles for energy conversion and wastewater abatement applications. Magnesium alloys (Mg-A) nanoparticles that represent an emerging class of earth-abundant materials stand out in this category with unique properties, easy production with high yield and ability to combat poisonous wastes and enabling solar energy generation. This mini-review represents a landscape of the most recent investigations of Mg-A photocatalysts for energy and environmental applications. Also delves into the obscure interaction between Mg-A materials and reactants, with highlights of its exceptional opportunities/challenges represented and how Mg-A can be exploited in multidisciplinary reaction systems, which could promote innovation and show the way towards sustainability in future. Starting with the fundamentals and significance of Mg-A nanoparticles, a series of representative Mg-A based photocatalysts (primarily MgO, MgFe₂O₄, Mg(OH)₂ and Mg-Al LDH composites) for particular applications are exemplified. Their intrinsic surface basicity, tunable band structures, defect chemistry, and layered architectures offer unexplored opportunities for high adsorptivity and enhanced charge separation. Finally, this review also proposes a novel vision into the major perspectives for research in the emerging photoreforming of plastic wastes to deal with. This review is the first concise report that focuses specifically on Mg-based materials for photocatalysis/photoreforming of plastic waste and therefore fills a gap left by prior reviews. Moreover, with further integrated discussion of band alignment, charge-transport behavior, and structural design principles, this review establishes Mg-A photocatalysts as a promising but undeveloped platform for future solar-driven valorization of plastic waste. And it outlines the clear pathways toward achieving efficient hydrogen-yielding-photoreforming of waste plastic through defect engineering, alloying and heterojunction construction.