Emerging Applications of Photocatalysis in Wastewater Treatment

Wastewater treatment has emerged as a global issue due to rapid industrialization and population growth. The conventional methods for wastewater treatment are outdating mainly due to the generation of secondary pollutants by them and hence the focus of current research is on the development of more sustainable methods to tackle this problem. Photocatalysis has emerged as an attractive alternative due to the green and sustainable nature of the underlying process as it utilizes natural sunlight ‘the abundant source of energy’ for its reactions. This chapter mainly focuses on the treatment of wastewater by the photocatalysis process. In this chapter, the basic mechanism of the photocatalytic wastewater treatment process and strategies for the design and development of photocatalysts have been discussed in detail followed by the discussion of several reports on the degradation of oil-based pollutants, dyes, pharmaceutical pollutants, and pesticides and herbicides present in the wastewater. Finally, a summary and future outlooks are also provided at the end to guide the researchers in designing low-cost and efficient photocatalysts for wastewater treatment.