Dionissios Mantzavinos

Abstract Advanced oxidation comprises a range of similar but different chemical processes aimed at tackling pollution in water, air and soil. Over the past few decades, multidisciplinary research has been carried out to study a broad spectrum of topics such as understanding of process fundamentals, elucidation of kinetics and mechanisms, development of new materials, modelling, process integration and scale‐up. This article identifies and discusses certain directions that seem to advance R&D on advanced oxidation for water/wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry

Abstract Chemical oxidation technologies are often employed for the treatment of complex industrial effluents that are not amenable to conventional biological methods. The role of chemical oxidation depends on the treatment objectives and may vary from partial remediation to complete mineralization. In the case of partial treatment, chemical oxidation aims at the selective removal of the more bioresistant fractions and their conversion to readily biodegradable intermediates that can subsequently be treated biologically. Coupling chemical pre‐oxidation with biological post‐treatment is conceptually beneficial as it can lead to increased overall treatment efficiencies compared with the efficiency of each individual stage. This paper reviews recent developments and highlights some important aspects that need to be addressed when considering such integrated schemes. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry