6.2 6.1 Photocatalysis
Photocatalysis, also called accelerated oxidation, is a chemical
reaction in which pollutants are oxidized more quickly by
light-activated catalysts (Macwan et al., 2011; Sornalingam et al.,
2016). Semiconductor metal oxides, like titanium dioxide (TiO₂), are
commonly used as photocatalysts because of their affordability,
stability, and capacity to produce reactive species when exposed to
ultraviolet light. A study showed main wastewater effluent containing
pharmaceutical compounds like sulfamethoxazole, metoprolol,
acetaminophen, hydrochlorothiazide, caffeine, carbamazepine, diclofenac,
antipyrine, and ketorolac, was treated using aerobic degradation
combined with heterogeneous solar photocatalysis using
TiO2 (Gimeno et al., 2016). Prieto Rodríguez et al.
(2013) and Shahid et al. (2021) have reported great removal efficiency
(99-100%) of antibiotics like amoxicillin, ampicillin, and chloxacclin,
as well as pesticides like aldrin, diazinon, and malathion, using
photocatalysis in the presence of H₂O₂.