Advances in nanomaterials for water treatment based on photothermal conversion and advanced oxidation processes
NING Kuo
LI Jing
YAN Liangguo
SONG Wen
Abstract：Significance Photothermal conversion is a novel water treatment technology developed in recent years.It utilizes photothermal materials to convert solar energy into thermal energy for efficient water evaporation.If wastewater contains non-degradable or toxic organic compounds,advanced oxidation processes can degrade organic pollutants by generating highly oxidative free radi-cals or non-radical species.Combining photothermal conversion with advanced oxidation processes can leverage both their advantages,achieving water evaporation and degradation of pollutants simultaneously.Nanomaterials,with their unique physi-cal,chemical,and nanoscale properties,can serve as catalysts,adsorbents,or carriers in water treatment methods,including advanced oxidation processes,adsorptive coagulation techniques,and biological water treatment systems,providing new materi-als to address water scarcity and pollution.
Progress Nanomaterials based on photothermal conversion processes primarily include metal(gold,silver,aluminum,copper,palladium,etc.)nanomaterials,carbon nanomaterials(carbon nanotubes,GO,rGO,etc.),and semiconductor nanomaterials(TiO2,Ti2O3,MoS2,Fe3O4,etc.).Additionally,ceramics,nitrides,and organic polymers such as polypyrrole are also com-monly used as photothermal conversion materials.Nanomaterials based on advanced oxidation processes mainly include photo-catalytic materials(TiO2,ZnO,CdS,BN,etc.),Fenton and Fenton-like reaction materials(Fe3O4,Fe2O3,FeO,etc.),elec-trocatalytic materials(MnO2,PbO2,MoS2,CoS2,TiN,graphene,carbon nanotubes),and activated persulfate materials.Nano-materials with both photothermal conversion and catalytic capabilities include metal oxides(TiO2,ZnO,Fe2O3,CuO),metal-organic framework(MOFs),and composite nanomaterials.
Conclusions and Prospects Photothermal conversion nanomaterials,due to their nanoscale size,large surface area,and strong light absorption capabilities,can achieve efficient photothermal conversion,significantly enhancing water evaporation rate and making water treatment more efficient.The photothermal process has broad applications in seawater desalination,wastewater treatment,power generation,agricultural irrigation,and sterilization.Nanomaterials based on advanced oxidation processes function as catalysts with large surface area and numerous active sites,facilitating the generation of highly reactive radicals(·OH,SO4-·,and·O2-)and non-radical species(1O2),thereby capable of decomposing complex organic pollutants into carbon dioxide,water,and harmless or low-toxic intermediates.Nanomaterials based on the photothermal conversion-advanced oxida-tion process can absorb solar energy and convert it into thermal energy for photothermal conversion,heating molecules to the state of evaporation.It also can serve as catalysts to generate active substances with strong oxidative capacities that disrupt pol-lutant chemical structures.Moreover,using sunlight and heat generated by the photothermal process can enhance the degrada-tion of pollutants,reducing the energy and costs required for wastewater treatment.Further studies can focus on the development of high-performance nanomaterials,such as improving the stability of MOFs and reducing the use of toxic metal ions to lower potential secondary pollution risks.It is necessary to design more systems based on the photothermal evaporation-advanced oxi-dation process,such as evaporators,photothermal collection systems,advanced oxidation reactors,etc.,to improve the con-tinuous operation capability of systems and explore new application areas.
Keywords：nanomaterialsphotothermal conversion processadvanced oxidation processwater treatment
Publication Date：2025-05-01
Online Publishing Date：2026-05-22(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：11( 78-88 )