Photocatalysis in the treatment and disinfection of water. Part I. Theoretical backgrounds / Fotokataliza w oczyszczaniu i dezynfekcji wody część i. podstawy teoretyczne

Abstract

Photocatalysis process belongs to an advanced oxidation technology for the removal of persistent organic compounds and microorganisms from water. It is the technology with a great potential, a low-cost, environmental friendly and sustainable treatment technology to align with the “zero” waste scheme in the water/wastewater industry. At present, the main technical barriers that impede its full commercialization remained on the post-recovery of the catalyst particles after water treatment. This paper reviews the background of the process and photooxidation mechanisms of the organic pollutants and microorganisms. The review of the latest progresses of engineered-photocatalysts, photo-reactor systems, and the kinetics and modeling associated with the photocatalytic and photodisinfection water and wastewater treatment process, has been presented. A number of potential and commercial photocatalytic reactor configurations are discussed, in particular the photocatalytic membrane reactors. The effects of key photo-reactor operation parameters and water quality on the photoprocess performances in terms of the mineralization and disinfection are assessed.

TiO2 immobilised on biopolymer nanofibers for the removal of bisphenol A and diclofenac from water

“…Which is consistent with the results obtained by other researchers experimenting with TiO 2 nanoparticles [35]. The removal degree of BPA after 30 min in both processes reaches 50%.…”

Impact of ultrasonic dispersion on the photocatalytic activity of titania aggregates

“…1) with the following key points: (1) the artificial illuminator is planar and produces steady-state UV radiation of intensity similar to that of solar illumination (20–30 W/m 2 ) [4–5 21]; (2) the reactor is a rectangular cell, so that the influence of the UV intensity is only two-dimensional; (3) the thickness of the reactor is small to diminish the shielding effect in the non-illuminated region [22]; and (4) most importantly, the reactor operates based on a PFR as the absorbent tube in the solar collecting reactors [4,23–26]. …”

“…Photocatalysis is an example of an AOP that has been effectively applied for the treatment of highly polluted water such as dye sewage [3–4]. Among the materials for this application, titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is a very promising photocatalyst because of its commercial availability, chemical and biological inertness, and because it has no known adverse health effects on humans [5–6]. Due to its large active surface area, the suspended TiO 2 powder is favored [6].…”

“…This research has focused on the materials aspects such as the structural properties (e.g., surface area, particle size, crystal composition, porosity) [8,11] of pristine or modified photocatalysts [2,5,12]. However, many of these laboratory-scaled apparatus are inappropriate to be applied in well-defined conditions, making the application with available pilot photoreactors challenging.…”

“…However, many of these laboratory-scaled apparatus are inappropriate to be applied in well-defined conditions, making the application with available pilot photoreactors challenging. Besides, such particles often form aggregates [5,13] whose properties differ from those of the primary particles, leading to misconceptions about the photocatalytic characteristics. In contrast to the photochemical aspect, in which aggregation has been more thoroughly discussed [14–15], the effects of the aggregates/secondary particles on the photocatalytic applications are still inexplicit.…”