Roles of titanium dioxide and ion-doped titanium dioxide on photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants (phenolic compounds and dyes) in aqueous solutions: A review

Water pollution by organic pollutants is an ever increasing problem for the global concerns. This paper presents a critical review on the abatement of organic pollutants, dyes and phenolic compounds in particular, using photocatalytic reaction by titanium dioxide (TiO2). Mechanism of photocatalytic reaction is briefly discussed. A detailed search of published reports on the advancement in photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater by doping titanium dioxide with foreign species such as metal and non-metal component has also been carried out and analyzed in this paper. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.