Achievements in ultraviolet irradiation and in advanced oxidation technologies for wastewater and water treatment

Abstract Recent progress in the ultraviolet irradiation and advanced oxidation technology (AOT) has attracted considerable attention for improving the degradation of pollutants in the wastewater and water treatment. AOTs generate hydroxyl radicals, a strong oxidant, which can completely degrade the pollutant nonselectivity into harmless products. These radicals are produced by means of oxidizing agents such as H2O2, O3, ultraviolet irradiation, ultrasound, and homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysis. Therefore this review focuses on advanced oxidation technologies and provides an overview about the different treatment methods containing AOTs. Particularly, recent advances in the AOT treatment of water and mechanistic aspects of various advanced oxidation processes are summarized.