Advances in photo-catalysis approach for the removal of toxic personal care product in aqueous environment

Abstract

Removal of personal care products (PCPs) has become one of the challenging aspects around the globe. From the last few decades, it has been introduced as one of the emerging pollutants to the environment that affects directly or indirectly our ecosystem mainly aqueous environment. From biodegradation to photo-degradation mechanism, there are different categories of treatment methods, while the priority is based upon being cheaper, effective, reliable, environmental and economically friendly that should be compatible to water chemistry. Currently, photo-catalysis is considered as one of the most reliable and efficient non-conservative technologies for the degradation of PCPs industrial effluents from the aqueous environment. A recent development of photo-catalysis technology for the removal of PCPs gives efficient performance by using carbonaceous TiO2 composites. By using hybrid nature of photo-catalyst, one can achieve suitably high and attractive efficiency with comparable low cost. In this review article, the different photo-catalysis mechanism while moving from non-photo-catalysis to photo-catalysis approach and its practical application for the removal efficiency of various polluting agents have been discussed. A critical evaluation on the various parameters for this approach is highlighted. Future perspective refers to the need for coupling of different semiconducting nano-materials with photo-catalysis that could yield higher efficiency than those of previous one. This facilitates further insight into photo-catalysis approach for the efficient degradation of PCPs to ensure healthy aqueous environment, and some points regarding fate of PCPs should be discussed in future perspective.