Photoactive Polymer for Wastewater Treatment

Photocatalytic water remediation and disinfection by photoactive organic polymer-based photocatalysts, instead of inorganic semiconductors, gained increasing interest recently due to their physical and optical proprieties such as tunable energy levels for redox reactions, easy synthesis and good chemical stability against photobleaching, excellent visible light response and excellent electrical conductivity as well as high carrier mobility along the polymer backbone which results in better charges separation and transport characteristics. Herein, an overview on the application of photoactive polymer for water treatment/remediation was addressed, including the photoproduction of redox species on photoactive polymers for organic pollutants oxidation and heavy metals reduction, the inactivation of bacterial species, the synergistic effects obtained through the combination of inorganic semiconductors and photoactive polymers and the photoactive polymer-based membranes.