Abstract
Photocatalytic processes have considerable potential to contribute to the degradation of pollutants in the aquatic environment and in wastewater treatment. The sunlight irradiation of humic substances in natural waters has been shown to produce several reactant species including singlet oxygen, Superoxide, hydroxyl radical and hydrogen peroxide. These species can react with organic pollutants to cause oxidation and/or dechlorination of these chemicals. Biological components of natural waters such as algae can contain a significant fraction of certain contaminants and studies have shown that algae can photocatalyze the breakdown of several persistent organic compounds. Heterogeneous photolysis using semiconductors such as titanium dioxide (anatase) has been shown to break down several organic and inorganic pollutants. Some mechanistic considerations as well as practical applications of this method for wastewater treatment are discussed.
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