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Photocatalysis for Wastewater Treatment with Special Emphasis on Plastic Degradation

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Handbook of Nanomaterials and Nanocomposites for Energy and Environmental Applications

Abstract

Advanced oxidation process such as photocatalysis is seen as a potential future technology to offer clean water for various human needs. Through this process, different organic pollutants and recalcitrant chemicals are effectively removed from both water and wastewater. Some of the AOPs, such as ozonation (O3), catalysis by iron ions, electrodes, metal oxides, UV/Fenton, UV/hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), etc., generate harmful intermediates which restrict their full-scale implementation. Alternatively, irradiation techniques such as photocatalysis are a viable option and have shown to treat wastewater contaminated with hazardous chemicals, organic dyes, pesticides, antibiotics, viruses, bacteria, protozoa, etc., without producing toxic levels of by-products. This chapter reviews emerging aspects of photocatalysis for treatment of various recalcitrant pollutants with a special emphasis on polyethylene degradation. It summarizes the source, types, mechanism, and parameters of wastewater treatment using photocatalytic activity. Polyethylene is well known as serious cause of threats to human health and environment. Polyethylene, polystyrene, plastic film, and polypropylene degradation has been shown to occur via photocatalysis. This could be achieved using TiO2, ZnO, and doped and undoped metal oxides as photocatalysts. Also, photocatalytic degradation is compared with microbial techniques for polyethylene degradation along with brief reports on novel photobioreactors; a combination of microbial and photocatalytic reactors in degradation of polyethylene.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, The Standard Fireworks Rajaratnam College for Women, Sivakasi, India

    Karthika Arumugam

  2. Centre for Biotechnology, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Srivilliputhur, 626126, India

    Karthika Arumugam & Naresh Kumar Sharma

  3. Nanomaterials Laboratory, International Research Centre, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Srivilliputhur, 626126, India

    Swaminathan Meenkashisundaram

Authors
  1. Karthika Arumugam
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  2. Swaminathan Meenkashisundaram
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  3. Naresh Kumar Sharma
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Correspondence to Naresh Kumar Sharma .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico

    Oxana Vasilievna Kharissova

  2. Instituto de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico

    Leticia Myriam Torres Martínez

  3. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico

    Boris Ildusovich Kharisov

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Arumugam, K., Meenkashisundaram, S., Sharma, N.K. (2020). Photocatalysis for Wastewater Treatment with Special Emphasis on Plastic Degradation. In: Kharissova, O.V., Martínez, L.M.T., Kharisov, B.I. (eds) Handbook of Nanomaterials and Nanocomposites for Energy and Environmental Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11155-7_41-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11155-7_41-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-11155-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-11155-7

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