Review on enhancing solar photocatalysis for sustainable degradation of invisible environmental pollutants

Escalating environmental concerns stemming from industrialization and societal development have placed the global ecosystem at increased risk. The influx of organic pollutants into our environment has led to severe consequences with toxic chemicals and emerging contaminants including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, polyfluoroalkyls and microplastics, which are becoming pervasive in aquatic ecosystems. These pollutants pose grave threats to both human and animal health, contributing to diseases, genetic abnormalities and ecological imbalances, such as oxygen depletion, biodiversity loss, fish hypoxia and coral reef damage. The pressing need for robust water decontamination solutions has spurred extensive research into various approaches to tackle this multifaceted problem. Among these, photocatalysis has emerged as a promising candidate for environmental purification and energy conversion. To overcome the challenges associated with photocatalysis, investigators have turned to surface modification techniques to enhance the photocatalytic activity of materials. This review, spanning the last decade (2010–2024), critically examines the advances in photocatalytic wastewater treatment, focusing on strategies to enhance visible light utilization for removal of invisible aquatic environmental pollutants. The comprehensive analysis encompasses the degradation of various pollutants including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and emerging contaminants. Notably, the review presents an extensive tabulation of over 164 pharmaceutical compounds and the corresponding photocatalysts used for their degradation. The review highlights substantial progress in pharmaceutical, agrochemical, paper and pulp, dairy and endocrine disruptors degradation efficiency, catalyst stability, and visible light harvesting capacity from 2010 to 2024.