Photocatalysis in Wastewater Treatment

Muddassar Alam

Department of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, University of Nizwa, Oman.

Abstract

Large businesses like biotechnology, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and agriculture have emerged as a result of urbanization and technical improvements. These sectors use a lot of water, which creates problems for wastewater treatment. A promising new field of study for managing a variety of wastes is photo catalysis, especially hazardous and refractory organics that are difficult to handle with traditional techniques. This study examines earlier studies, current research, and potential applications of nano-photocatalysis for wastewater treatment. It draws attention to the dearth of established criteria for evaluating the performance of different photo catalysts in wastewater treatment and the necessity of conducting additional pilot and field-scale studies to ascertain financial advantages. One ecologically safe, economically viable, and sustainable method for enhancing wastewater quality and addressing the shortage of clean water is photo catalysis. The development of semiconductor nanoparticles has garnered attention. The degradation of organic and inorganic pollutants by photo catalysts, such as TiO₂, ZnO, MoS₂, g-C₃N₄, CuO, Fe₂O₃, CdS, SnO₂, ZnS, SrTiO₃, and their nanohybrids, has garnered interest in wastewater treatment due to advancements in    semiconductor nanomaterials. It primarily focuses on operational parameter optimization and how it affects the photo catalytic breakdown of water contaminants. Metal oxide-based semiconductors have been explored as excellent photo catalysts to degrade organic pollutants in wastewater. Photo catalytic degradation allows spontaneous and non-spontaneous reactions using light energy.

 

Keywords: Wastewater, sustainable environment, photo catalyst, degradation

 

Full length article    *Corresponding Author, e-mail: mudasaralam@yahoo.com; doi# 10.71111/Science today/3-24-1-1-st-3