Innovative sustainable materials for the photoinduced remediation of polluted waters

Abstract

The valorization of low-cost biobased resources (such as biomasses and their derivatives) as alternative feedstock for the preparation of innovative sustainable materials allows both economic and environmental benefits, for instance when these materials enhance the photodegradation of organic pollutants in water remediation processes. This chapter presents the physicochemical features of biobased substances (BBS) isolated from urban organic residues, and it reports on their performances as chemical auxiliaries in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). In the homogeneous phase, BBS can indeed promote the direct oxidation of organic pollutants through the formation of many reactive species, and it can also allow running Fenton and photo-Fenton processes at circumneutral pH. Additionally, BBS can be used in heterogeneous phase. In addition, the preparation, characterization, and pollutant photodegradation efficiency of novel heterogeneous systems based on hybrid magnet-responsive materials functionalized with biobased substances is discussed, whereas the functionalization with oxidative enzymes is presented as well.