excited electrons and holes was accelerated, resulting in improved photocatalytic
performances.
Treatments of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products
A large number of semiconductor composites have been developed as photocatalyst
for the removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in water, such as
Mg-ZnO-Al 2 O 3 (Elhalil et al. 2018), TiO 2 /reduced graphene oxide (Lin et al. 2017),
MWCNT-TiO 2 -SiO 2 (Czech and Tyszczuk-Rotko 2018), and ZnO-zeolite
(Jagannatha et al. 2019).
Presently, the visible light-responsive photocatalytic removal of pharmaceuticals
and personal care products by carbon–oxygen–titanium linkages in the composite
system has attracted significant attention. Photocatalytic removal of 29 different
pharmaceuticals and personal care products over carbonaceous TiO 2 composites was
summarized (Awfa et al. 2018). The main carbonaceous materials included activated
carbon, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. These materials can enhance the
photocatalytic removal efficiency of pharmaceuticals and personal care products
due to their high specific surface area and large electron storage capacity. Moreover,
the carbonaceous materials can behave as a sensitizer to provide electrons for TiO 2
which can subsequently be activated by photons with suitable energy leading to
higher photocatalytic performance (Awfa et al. 2018).
Treatments of Persistent Organic Pollutants
Highly photoactive metal oxides could be achieved by composite with two or more
different materials of TiO 2 , ZnO, SnO 2 , SrTiO 2 , WO 3 , Cu 2 O, and Fe 2 O 3 with
nonmetal elements such as N, S, C, and F for photocatalytic remediation of persistent
organic pollutants. For example, a development of polyaniline/FeZSM-5 composites
for the degradation of herbicide glyphosate was reported (Milojević-Rakić et al.
2018). The composites showed efficient green catalytic degradation of pesticide/
herbicide pollutants in environmental remediation systems.
MIL(Fe)/Fe-doped nanospongy porous biocarbon (MIL(Fe)/Fe-SPC) composites
were used for the degradation of thiamethoxam, pesticides, and other environmental
pollutants (Wei et al. 2018).
Semiconductor composites with unique selective adsorption properties, such as
Pd/ZnWO 4 nanocomposite (Chen et al. 2019a), TiO 2 /Fe 2 O 3 nanocomposite
(Mirmasoomi et al. 2017), zinc oxide nanorod-incorporated carboxylic graphene/
polyaniline composite (Anirudhan et al. 2018), Fe 3 O 4 /metal–organic framework
nanocomposite (Sajjadi et al. 2019), TiO 2 /ZrO 2 nanocomposite (Mbiri et al. 2018),
Ag-ZnO composite (Kanwal et al. 2018), and In-S-TiO 2 /reduced graphene oxide
nanocomposite (Khavar et al. 2018) for degradation and detoxification of pesticides,
were reported. High crystallinity, small particle size, high surface area, and welldefined porosity are important parameters to provide active sites for adsorption of
1 Photocatalytic Remediation of Organic Pollutants in Water
35
performances.
Treatments of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products
A large number of semiconductor composites have been developed as photocatalyst
for the removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in water, such as
Mg-ZnO-Al 2 O 3 (Elhalil et al. 2018), TiO 2 /reduced graphene oxide (Lin et al. 2017),
MWCNT-TiO 2 -SiO 2 (Czech and Tyszczuk-Rotko 2018), and ZnO-zeolite
(Jagannatha et al. 2019).
Presently, the visible light-responsive photocatalytic removal of pharmaceuticals
and personal care products by carbon–oxygen–titanium linkages in the composite
system has attracted significant attention. Photocatalytic removal of 29 different
pharmaceuticals and personal care products over carbonaceous TiO 2 composites was
summarized (Awfa et al. 2018). The main carbonaceous materials included activated
carbon, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. These materials can enhance the
photocatalytic removal efficiency of pharmaceuticals and personal care products
due to their high specific surface area and large electron storage capacity. Moreover,
the carbonaceous materials can behave as a sensitizer to provide electrons for TiO 2
which can subsequently be activated by photons with suitable energy leading to
higher photocatalytic performance (Awfa et al. 2018).
Treatments of Persistent Organic Pollutants
Highly photoactive metal oxides could be achieved by composite with two or more
different materials of TiO 2 , ZnO, SnO 2 , SrTiO 2 , WO 3 , Cu 2 O, and Fe 2 O 3 with
nonmetal elements such as N, S, C, and F for photocatalytic remediation of persistent
organic pollutants. For example, a development of polyaniline/FeZSM-5 composites
for the degradation of herbicide glyphosate was reported (Milojević-Rakić et al.
2018). The composites showed efficient green catalytic degradation of pesticide/
herbicide pollutants in environmental remediation systems.
MIL(Fe)/Fe-doped nanospongy porous biocarbon (MIL(Fe)/Fe-SPC) composites
were used for the degradation of thiamethoxam, pesticides, and other environmental
pollutants (Wei et al. 2018).
Semiconductor composites with unique selective adsorption properties, such as
Pd/ZnWO 4 nanocomposite (Chen et al. 2019a), TiO 2 /Fe 2 O 3 nanocomposite
(Mirmasoomi et al. 2017), zinc oxide nanorod-incorporated carboxylic graphene/
polyaniline composite (Anirudhan et al. 2018), Fe 3 O 4 /metal–organic framework
nanocomposite (Sajjadi et al. 2019), TiO 2 /ZrO 2 nanocomposite (Mbiri et al. 2018),
Ag-ZnO composite (Kanwal et al. 2018), and In-S-TiO 2 /reduced graphene oxide
nanocomposite (Khavar et al. 2018) for degradation and detoxification of pesticides,
were reported. High crystallinity, small particle size, high surface area, and welldefined porosity are important parameters to provide active sites for adsorption of
1 Photocatalytic Remediation of Organic Pollutants in Water
35