Abstract With rapidly growing urbanization and industrialization in developing
countries around the world, a large volume of wastewater is produced by industries
that contain waterborne diseases, and photocatalysis is confirmed as a promising
technology for water disinfection. Nevertheless, specific photocatalysts are required
with the ability to produce high amounts of diffusible reactive species with a long
lifetime, such as H 2 O 2 . The latter has been considered as the main obstacle that
restricts its efficiency for water disinfection process. Indeed, nanostructured materials having a definite morphology have a large surface area and size enhances higher
photocatalytic oxidation separation. This makes it possible to accomplish better
efficiency in the water disinfection process that has now attracted more attention
from policymakers and scientists to develop novel photocatalysts. This review
discusses recent applications of low-dimensional nanostructured photocatalysts
and their preparation, characterization, and efficiency for the removal of pathogenic
microorganisms. It also highlights the reacting mechanism of the photogenerated
reactive oxygen species and suported catalysis for the disinfection of pathogenic
microorganisms, and the effect of the chemical characteristics of the water
matrix barrer is reviewed comprehensively. Finally, the recent development of
low-dimensional nanostructured photocatalysts for water disinfection and its challenges and perspectives in the future are discussed. This review suggests that the
in-depth study of the electrochemical cell using boron-doped electrodes such as its
characterization is extremely promising for the disinfection of bacterial cells with the
utilization of natural minerals and genetic technologies.
Keywords Suported photocatlysis · Solar light · Nanomaterials · Photocatalysis ·
Disinfection · Advanced oxidation processes
7.1 Introduction
Currently, it is worldwide recognized that water is a crucial natural resource and
accessibility to safe drinking water is getting more attention, particularly in rural
areas of developing countries (Montgomery and Elimelech 2007). However, with
rapidly growing urbanization and industrialization in developing countries, the
pressure on water resources is drastically increasing. For instance, according to the
World Health Organization (WHO 2012), about 884 million people in the developing countries have inadequate access to clean water and depend on contaminated
freshwater which leads to different waterborne transmitted diseases like hepatitis and
cholera. This contributes to about 80% of diseases in developing countries (Montgomery and Elimelech 2007; Supply and Programme 2014). Moreover, these pathogenic microbes can also lead to various mortal diseases like typhoid fever,
pneumonia, and tuberculosis. Besides, according to the WHO (2012), about 1.5
million deaths were reported due to diarrheal diseases triggered by these pathogenic
216
T. G. Ambaye et al.
countries around the world, a large volume of wastewater is produced by industries
that contain waterborne diseases, and photocatalysis is confirmed as a promising
technology for water disinfection. Nevertheless, specific photocatalysts are required
with the ability to produce high amounts of diffusible reactive species with a long
lifetime, such as H 2 O 2 . The latter has been considered as the main obstacle that
restricts its efficiency for water disinfection process. Indeed, nanostructured materials having a definite morphology have a large surface area and size enhances higher
photocatalytic oxidation separation. This makes it possible to accomplish better
efficiency in the water disinfection process that has now attracted more attention
from policymakers and scientists to develop novel photocatalysts. This review
discusses recent applications of low-dimensional nanostructured photocatalysts
and their preparation, characterization, and efficiency for the removal of pathogenic
microorganisms. It also highlights the reacting mechanism of the photogenerated
reactive oxygen species and suported catalysis for the disinfection of pathogenic
microorganisms, and the effect of the chemical characteristics of the water
matrix barrer is reviewed comprehensively. Finally, the recent development of
low-dimensional nanostructured photocatalysts for water disinfection and its challenges and perspectives in the future are discussed. This review suggests that the
in-depth study of the electrochemical cell using boron-doped electrodes such as its
characterization is extremely promising for the disinfection of bacterial cells with the
utilization of natural minerals and genetic technologies.
Keywords Suported photocatlysis · Solar light · Nanomaterials · Photocatalysis ·
Disinfection · Advanced oxidation processes
7.1 Introduction
Currently, it is worldwide recognized that water is a crucial natural resource and
accessibility to safe drinking water is getting more attention, particularly in rural
areas of developing countries (Montgomery and Elimelech 2007). However, with
rapidly growing urbanization and industrialization in developing countries, the
pressure on water resources is drastically increasing. For instance, according to the
World Health Organization (WHO 2012), about 884 million people in the developing countries have inadequate access to clean water and depend on contaminated
freshwater which leads to different waterborne transmitted diseases like hepatitis and
cholera. This contributes to about 80% of diseases in developing countries (Montgomery and Elimelech 2007; Supply and Programme 2014). Moreover, these pathogenic microbes can also lead to various mortal diseases like typhoid fever,
pneumonia, and tuberculosis. Besides, according to the WHO (2012), about 1.5
million deaths were reported due to diarrheal diseases triggered by these pathogenic
216
T. G. Ambaye et al.