Novel approaches to wastewater treatment processes: Synchronizing advanced oxidation processes with nanostructured catalysts: A review

Abstract

The rising pollution of water resources by recalcitrant organic pollutants provides the necessity to develop the new advanced treatment technologies along with the traditional pattern of treatment processes. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) have gained popularity as they can be used to degrade stubborn pollutants as they generate highly reactive oxygen species (ROS), primarily, hydroxyl radical (OH). Nanostructured catalysts have been incorporated to revolutionize AOP, making them much more efficient, selective and cost-effective. The review provides an in-depth discussion of the synergy between engineered nanomaterials and a number of AOPs (photocatalysis, Fenton based processes, ozonation, and persulphate activation). We discuss the fundamentals of action of nanostructured catalysts including metal oxides, carbon-based nanomaterial and single atom catalysts that promote the generation of ROS in detail. Recent achievements in designing materials toward improvement of the light absorption, charge separation and catalytic stability are discussed. In addition, the review addresses such critical issues as catalyst recovery, potential nanotoxicity, scale up to real-world solutions in industry. Taking into account the latest studies (up to the year 2026), the article at hand underlines the potential of nanocatalyst-based AOPs integration as transformative and suggests the research pathways to reach sustainable and efficient wastewater treatment.