A review on photocatalysis in antibiotic wastewater: Pollutant degradation and hydrogen production

Surveys on antibiotics have become one of the most popular topics in the recent two decades. From 1998 to 2018, more than 5,000 articles concentrated on the research of antibiotic wastewater treatment have been published. Among them, photocatalysis has received much attention due to its green and environmental-friendly properties. In this mini-review, the recent progress of photocatalysis in antibiotic wastewater was summarized, including antibiotics degradation and hydrogen energy conversion. The photocatalysts commonly used were also discussed. It can be mainly classified as TiO2-based materials, sulfides and polymeric carbon nitride-based materials and bismuth-contained materials. Four major types of antibiotics, tetracycline, sulfonamide, β-lactam and quinolone, were involved. Furthermore, perspectives concentrated on future development and challenges, especially converting antibiotics into hydrogen energy, were also proposed.