Historical development and prospects of photocatalysts for pollutant removal in water

Photocatalysis, as a low-cost and environment friendly technology, has demonstrated a significant potential for water pollution purification; it has received extensive attention in recent decades. The key is the photocatalyst; a large number of photocatalysts have been developed. To better understand and further develop the photocatalysis technology for water treatment, this review summarizes its development over time. The development period is divided into four stages (1960s-1993, 1994-2000, 2001-2010, and 2011-present) to provide readers with a better understanding of the development characteristics, and causes and consequences of each historical stage. This review expounds the origin and development of photocatalysis and the obstacles encountered and overcome. It describes the development of mechanisms and methods to solve these problems in each time period. Moreover, it reviews the recent development of new photocatalysts, the concept of designing photocatalysts, and photocatalytic-coupling systems. Finally, it enumerates the problems that continue to exist in the application of photocatalysis technology, and highlights the key issues that must be addressed in future research. The review is aimed at providing the researchers with a deeper understanding of photocatalysis technology and encourage further development of the application of photocatalysis to water treatment.

Selective Photocatalytic Oxidation of Light Alkanes over Alkali-Ion-Modified V2O5/SiO2; Kinetic Study and Reaction Mechanism

Alkali-ion-modified silica-supported vanadium oxides are photocatalysts available in the field of photooxidation of light alkanes using molecular oxygen. The photooxygenated reaction was promoted over the catalyst under irradiation at steady state. Acetone formation on the photooxidation of propane was investigated over a rubidium-ion-modified silica-supported vanadium oxide that is the most effective catalyst. The kinetic analysis demonstrated that the rate-determining step is the reaction of propane on the lattice oxygen of the photoexcited VO4Rb species to yield the vanadium isopropoxide species. It was suggested that the photocatalytic active sites are occupied by photogenerated acetone during photoreaction at 333 K. Heating the photocatalyst bed drastically enhanced not only product yield but also the selectivity to propionaldehyde that is a minor product in the photooxidation at 333 K. The product distribution of photoassisted oxidation of propane was described by Boltzmann's distribution of stabilization energy of the intermediates: an isopropoxide-like one for the precursor of acetone and an n-propoxide-like one for the precursor of propionaldehyde.