Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic, Inorganic and Microbial Pollutants Present in Water by Novel Materials: A Critical Review and Present Update

Presently water pollution is the one of the major threats faced by living things all over the world. The main cause of water pollution is its effect on the life of aquatic animals. Organic, inorganic, microbial and other pollutants often mix with water bodies mainly due to human activities. Because of the presence of pollutants in water, the amount of dissolved oxygen level can be decreased which in turn affect the survival of aquatic life. The pollutant water may enter the agriculture fields and damage the plants extensively. The methods, such as, coagulation, adsorption, foam floating, electrodialysis, capacitive deionization, etc. are presently employed to treat the waste water. Among these methods, heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation is considered to be a good method because of its low cost and environmental friendliness. In this review, the decontamination of different kinds of organic, inorganic and microbial contaminants in water with different photocatalysts process is presented.