1.College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Key Laboratory of Energy Plants Resource and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy of Guangdong Regular Higher Education Institutions,South China Agricultural University,Guangzhou,China;2.State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing,Wuhan University of Technology,Wuhan,China;3.School of Environment, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation & Pollution Control,Tsinghua University,Beijing,China
Abstract:
Heterogeneous photocatalysis has long been considered to be one of the most promising approaches to tackling the myriad environmental issues. However, there are still many challenges for designing efficient and cost-effective photocatalysts and photocatalytic degradation systems for application in practical environmental remediation. In this review, we first systematically introduced the fundamental principles on the photocatalytic pollutant degradation. Then, the important considerations in the design of photocatalytic degradation systems are carefully addressed, including charge carrier dynamics, catalytic selectivity, photocatalyst stability, pollutant adsorption and photodegradation kinetics. Especially, the underlying mechanisms are thoroughly reviewed, including investigation of oxygen reduction properties and identification of reactive oxygen species and key intermediates. This review in environmental photocatalysis may inspire exciting new directions and methods for designing, fabricating and evaluating photocatalytic degradation systems for better environmental remediation and possibly other relevant fields, such as photocatalytic disinfection, water oxidation, and selective organic transformations.
