Photocatalytic Mechanisms and Materials for Organic Pollutant Degradation

Photocatalysis harnesses light energy to drive chemical reactions at a semiconductor surface, generating electron–hole pairs that produce reactive oxygen species capable of mineralising organic contaminants. Upon photon absorption exceeding the material’s band gap, excited electrons migrate to the conduction band while holes remain in the valence band. Effective separation and transfer of these charge carriers are central to high activity and are enhanced by strategies such as doping, plasmonic metal deposition and the construction of heterojunctions. Z-scheme and S-scheme configurations mimic natural photosynthesis by spatially directing electrons and holes to maximise redox potentials. Popular photocatalyst families include titanium dioxide, bismuth-based oxides, graphitic carbon nitride and composite metal-organic frameworks, each selected for band-structure tunability, chemical stability and surface reactivity. Recent advances focus on broadening visible-light absorption, suppressing recombination through interfacial engineering and tailoring surface sites to improve adsorption of target molecules. Applications encompass the degradation of dyes, pharmaceuticals and persistent organic pollutants in industrial and municipal wastewaters. The global imperative for clean water has driven integration of photocatalytic modules into flow reactors, fixed-bed systems and hybrid processes, yielding scalable, energy-efficient technologies for environmental remediation.

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Photocatalytic Mechanisms and Materials for Organic Pollutant Degradation publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in photocatalytic mechanisms and materials for organic pollutant degradation across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Photocatalysis: A light-driven process in which a semiconductor generates charge carriers that initiate redox reactions at its surface, leading to pollutant breakdown.

Electron–hole pair: The combination of a photoexcited electron in the conduction band and the corresponding vacancy (hole) in the valence band.

Heterojunction: An interface formed between two semiconductors with different band structures, engineered to promote directional charge separation.

Z-scheme: A photocatalytic configuration where two semiconductors are arranged so that electrons and holes recombine selectively, preserving high-energy carriers for redox reactions.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS): Highly reactive molecules such as superoxide radicals and hydroxyl radicals that oxidise organic pollutants.

Band gap: The energy difference between a semiconductor’s valence and conduction bands, determining the minimum photon energy required for electron excitation.

References

1. Hydrothermal and Co-Precipitation Combined with Photo-Reduced Preparation of Ag/AgBr/MgBi2O6 Composites for Visible Light Degradation Toward Organics. Nanomaterials (2024).
2. Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline antibiotics in swine wastewater using Fe3+-loaded NaBiO3 coupled with sodium persulfate. Applied Catalysis O Open (2023).
3. Preparing a Ca-Bi-O System by the Precipitation Method and Studying Its Intermediate Structural Properties for Applications in Water Treatment. Inorganics (2023).