CHAPTER 4: Specificity in Photocatalysis
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Published:17 Mar 2016
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Series: Energy and Environment
Y. Paz, in Photocatalysis: Fundamentals and Perspectives, ed. J. Schneider, D. Bahnemann, J. Ye, G. Li Puma, D. D. Dionysiou, J. Schneider, ... D. D. Dionysiou, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016, pp. 80-109.
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Being based on the action of free radicals, photocatalysis is quite insensitive to the type of contaminants. The lack of sensitivity to the type of contaminants is usually regarded as one of the strengths of photocatalysis, but in fact may be a weakness when dealing with mixed streams that contain hazardous contaminants together with organic contaminants of low toxicity. This chapter discusses the various ways to obtain preferential degradation and selectivity while dividing the techniques into approaches that operate by controlling adsorption, approaches that operate by controlling the reaction mechanism, and approaches that act through controlling the desorption of products.