A review on future wastewater treatment technologies: micro-nanobubbles, hybrid electro-Fenton processes, photocatalytic fuel cells, and microbial fuel cell

The future prospect in wastewater treatment technologies mostly emphasizes processing efficiency and the economic benefits. Undeniably, the use of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) in physical and chemical treatments has played a vital role in helping the technologies to remove the organic pollutants efficiently and reduce the energy consumption or even harvesting the electrons movements in the oxidation process to produce electrical energy. In the present paper, we reviewed several types of wastewater treatment technologies, namely micro-nanobubbles, hybrid electro-Fenton processes, photocatalytic fuel cells, and microbial fuel cell. The aims are to explore the interaction of hydroxyl radicals with pollutants using these wastewater technologies, including their removal efficiencies, optimal conditions, reactor setup, and energy generation. Despite these technologies recorded high removal efficiency of organic pollutants, the selection of the technologies is dependent on the characteristic of the wastewater and the daily production volume. Hence the review paper also provides comparisons between technologies as the guidance in technology selection.

Automated summary

The future of wastewater treatment technologies focuses on processing efficiency and economic benefits, with advanced oxidation processes playing a crucial role. This paper reviews various wastewater treatment technologies and their interactions with pollutants, providing comparisons for technology selection based on specific circumstances.