Photocatalysis for Heavy Metal Treatment: A Review

Abstract

Environmental and human health are threatened by anthropogenic heavy metal discharge into watersheds. Traditional processes have many limitations, such as low efficiency, high cost, and by-products. Photocatalysis, an emerging advanced catalytic oxidation technology, uses light energy as the only source of energy. It is a clean new technology that can be widely used in the treatment of organic pollutants in water. Given the excellent adaptability of photocatalysis in environmental remediation, it can be used for the treatment of heavy metals. In this comprehensive review, the existing reported works in relevant areas are summarized and discussed. Moreover, recommendations for future work are provided.

Porous organic polymers as a promising platform for efficient capture of heavy metal pollutants in wastewater

“…Even so it remains laboratory scale, has a low throughput, is pH-dependent, and is ineffective when there are various metals present. 94…”

“…Even so it remains laboratory scale, has a low throughput, is pH-dependent, and is ineffective when there are various metals present. 94 In conclusion to this section, the selection of a method for removing heavy metals from wastewater depends on a variety of factors, including cost-effectiveness, technical maturity, environmental friendliness, and automaticity. No single method is perfect, and each method must be evaluated in the context of the specific wastewater treatment application to determine the most appropriate solution.…”

Synthesis, Characterization and Applications of Sustainable Advanced Nanomaterials

“…Environmental applications of heterogeneous photocatalysis include the removal of heavy metals such as (Hg), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), nickel (Ni), and copper (Cu). The photoreduction capability has also been used to recover expensive metals such as gold (Au), platinum (Pt), and silver (Au) from industrial wastewater [158].…”

AgO@InGaZnO4 composites for environmental photocatalysis

“…), [5] and inorganic heavy metal ions (Cr 6+ , Hg 2+ , etc. ) [6] can pollute water resources. Therefore, it is of great significance to design suitable photocatalysts to remove organic and inorganic pollutants.…”