Nanophotocatalysis for the Removal of Pharmaceutical Residues from Water Bodies: State of Art and Recent Trends

Background: The occurrence of pharmaceuticals in surface and drinking water is ubiquitous and is a major concern of researchers. These compounds cause a destructive impact on aquatic and terrestrial life forms, and the removal of these compounds from the environment is a challenging issue. Existent conventional wastewater treatment processes are generally inefficacious because of their low degradation efficiency and inadequate techniques associated with the disposal of adsorbed pollutants during comparatively effective methods like the adsorption process. Remediation Method: Semiconductor-mediated photocatalysis is an attractive technology for the efficient removal of pharmaceutical compounds. Among various semiconductors, TiO2 and ZnObased photocatalysts gained much interest during the last years because of their efficiency in decomposing and mineralizing the lethal organic pollutants with the utilization of UV-visible light. Incessant efforts are being undertaken for tuning the physicochemical, optical, and electronic properties of these photocatalysts to strengthen their overall photocatalytic performance with good recycling efficiency. Results: This review attempts to showcase the recent progress in the rational design and fabrication of nanosized TiO2 and ZnO photocatalysts for the removal of pollutants derived from the pharmaceutical industry and hospital wastes. Conclusion: Photocatalysis involving TiO2 and ZnO provides a positive impact on pollution management and could be successfully applied to remove pharmaceuticals from wastewater streams. Structure modifications, the introduction of heteroatoms, and the integration of polymers with these nano photocatalysts offer leapfrogging opportunities for broader applications in the field of photocatalysis.