Nanomaterials enabled photoelectrocatalysis for removing pollutants in the environment and food

Due to challenging biodegradability and environmental accumulation, pollutants in the environment and food quality have posed a major concern to human health. Advanced oxidation processes to remediate pollutants have emerged as innovative technologies in the field of water treatment. As complementary pollutants removal technologies, electrochemical advanced oxidation process and heterogeneous photocatalysis have received extensive attention in recent years. According to recent studies, coupling these two techniques into a photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) system considerably reduces both of their limitations and provides synergistic benefits for the degradation process. This article provides a comprehensive review of the developments in PEC for pollutant removal, with focus on the application of such removal. Then the principles of PEC process and photoactive materials are briefly introduced. Finally, the challenges and prospects for PEC degradation pollutants processes are examined.