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Emerging Eco-friendly Green Technologies for Wastewater Treatment pp 171–191Cite as

Photocatalysis as a Clean Technology for the Degradation of Petrochemical Pollutants

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Part of the book series: Microorganisms for Sustainability ((MICRO,volume 18))

Abstract

Photocatalysis as a technology does satisfy the criteria as a clean technology in application and is suitable for the degradation of petrochemical pollutants. An ideal photocatalyst is expected to conform to properties of photoactivity, biological and chemical inertness, stability toward photo-corrosion, suitable for visible or near UV light energy harnessing, be low cost and be nontoxic in nature. The high stability of TiO2 allows diverse applications such as in electro-ceramics, glass and in photocatalytic degradation of chemicals in water and air. The oxide particles can be used in the form of suspensions in slurry reactors as well as thin film coating agents. The suspended photocatalyst has been demonstrated to be very efficient degrading different classes of organic compounds. The major concern of the suspended photocatalyst system is the inability to reclaim the semiconductor catalyst in suspended slurry-type applications. This drawback has been addressed in various ways through innovative developments, which are specifically aimed at addressing this issue.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering Sciences and Water Utilisation Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment, and Information Technology (EBIT), University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Zakhele (Zack) Khuzwayo & Evans M. N. Chirwa

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  1. Zakhele (Zack) Khuzwayo
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  2. Evans M. N. Chirwa
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Correspondence to Zakhele (Zack) Khuzwayo .

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  1. Department of Microbiology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ram Naresh Bharagava

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Khuzwayo, Z.(., Chirwa, E.M.N. (2020). Photocatalysis as a Clean Technology for the Degradation of Petrochemical Pollutants. In: Bharagava, R. (eds) Emerging Eco-friendly Green Technologies for Wastewater Treatment. Microorganisms for Sustainability, vol 18. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1390-9_8

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