Photocatalytic Materials for Pollutant Removal by Degradation

Dear Colleagues,

Semiconductor materials with important physical-chemical properties have attracted interest for their application to water and air treatment. Photocatalytic processes have shown great potential in recent years as environmentally friendly and sustainable technologies. Nowadays, technical limitations related to photocatalytic processes persist, such as the high cost of the UV light source, the post-recovery of catalysts after water treatment, and the efficiency of the photocatalytic processes for the removal of new recalcitrant pollutants. To overcome these technical challenges, and especially to ensure the better utilization of sunlight, research efforts have focused on developing catalysts with a wider range of light absorption, and their incorporation into different supports (for example, photocatalytic polymer composite or membrane reactors could combine two treatments, photocatalysis and filtration, in a single unit in order to degrade different contaminants). At present, several methodical approaches for photocatalyst activation via visible light are being investigated. These methods include the modification of TiO₂, the most popular photocatalyst, and other commercially available semiconductors (e.g., ZnO or CuO) by metal ions or non-metallic species, as well as the coupling of various semiconductors with macroscopic supports. The engineering design of semiconductor nanostructured materials can significantly improve the development of green, cost-effective, and efficient technologies for the removal of emerging contaminants.

Dr. Antonietta Mancuso
Guest Editor

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