Abstract
In recent years, alarm has been raised due to the presence of chemical contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in water. This concern is due to the risks associated with their exposure, even in small amounts. These complex compounds cannot be removed or degraded by existing technologies in wastewater treatment plants. Therefore, advanced oxidation processes have been studied, with the objective of developing a technology capable of complementing the conventional water treatment plants. Heterogenous photocatalysis stands out for being a cost-effective and environmentally friendly process. However, its most common form (with suspended catalytic particles) requires time-consuming and costly downstream processes. Therefore, the heterogeneous photocatalysis process with a supported catalyst is preferable. Among the available supports, polymeric ones stand out due to their favorable characteristics, such as their transparency, flexibility and stability. This is a relatively novel process; therefore, there are still some gaps in the scientific knowledge. Thus, this review article aims to gather the existing information about this process and verify which questions are still to be answered.
Highlights
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have faced a new challenge—the presence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in waters
Through the critical literature analysis, it is possible to conclude that special attention must be given to the operation conditions and the conditions applied during the preparation of the materials, because these influence the physicochemical characteristics of the composites, and the efficiency of the process
It was verified that the studied materials are effective in degrading the analyzed pollutants, under optimal conditions
Summary
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have faced a new challenge—the presence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in waters. ‘CEC’ is a standard term used to identify environmental risks related to the discharge of new pollutants (synthetic or naturally occurring chemicals or microorganisms), with unpredictable consequences, including a risk of severe damage, even at low concentrations [1–3]. Exposure to some kinds of CECs can cause complications in the reproductive and in the immune system, both in humans and aquatic life [2,4]. The presence of CECs in water can trigger the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria [4]. The removal of CECs from water is imperative. The existing conventional WWTPs technologies are not effective in eliminating CECs [1,5]; the elimination of CECs requires advanced treatments
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