Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) thin films are used for a broad range of applications such as wastewater treatment, photocatalytic degradation activity, water splitting, antibacterial and also in biomedical applications. There is a wide range of synthesis techniques for the deposition of TiO₂ thin films, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD), both of which are well known deposition methods. Layer by layer deposition with good homogeneity, even thickness and good adhesive nature is possible by using the PVD technique, with the products being used for photocatalytic applications. This review studies the effects of magnetron sputtering conditions on TiO₂ films. This innovative technique can enhance the photocatalytic activity by increasing the thickness of the film higher than any other methods. The main purpose of this article is to review the effects of DC and RF magnetron sputtering conditions on the preparation of TiO₂ thin films for photocatalysis. The characteristics of TiO₂ films (i.e., structure, composition, and crystallinity) are affected significantly by the substrate type, the sputtering power, the distance between substrate and target, working pressure, argon/oxygen ratio, deposition time, substrate temperature, dopant types, and finally the annealing treatment. The photocatalytic activity and optical properties, including the degree of crystallinity, band gap (E_g), refractive index (n), transmittance (T), and extinction coefficient (k), of TiO₂ films are dependent on the above- mentioned film characteristics. Optimal TiO₂ films should have a small particle size, a strong degree of crystallinity, a low band gap, a low contact angle, a high refractive index, transmittance, and extinction coefficient. Finally, metallic and nonmetallic dopants can be added to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ films by narrowing the band gap.

The effects of ozone dosage, water temperature and catalyst addition in an ozonation-fluidized bed reactor (O₃/FBR) on treated water quality and on the control of chlorinated and ozonated disinfection by-products (DBPs) were investigated. A biofiltration column was used to evaluate its removal efficiency on biodegradable organic matter and to reduce DBP formation. The Dong-Gang River, polluted by agricultural and domestic wastewater in Pingtung, Taiwan, was used as the water source. The treated water quality in terms of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), biodegradable DOC, ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (UV254) and specific UV absorbance (SUVA) improved with increasing ozone and catalyst dosages. Catalytic ozonation was more effective than ozonation alone at reducing the formation of DBPs at a given dosage. Experimental results show that water temperature had little effect on the treated water quality with the O₃/FBR system used in this study (p>0.05). The combination of O₃/FBR and the biofiltration process effectively decreased the amount of DBP precursors. The concentration of total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) was less than the maximum contaminant level (MCL) requirement, which is 80 μg/L, for all treated waters and the concentration of five haloacetic acids (HAA5) fell below 60 μg/L with an ozone dosage higher than 2.5 mg/L.

In this study, the ability of a bench-scale simulated constructed wetland (CW) to remove organic matter (OM) and tetracycline (TC) from water was examined. The performance of CW was evaluated by varying the initial concentrations of the target compounds and the hydraulic retention times (HRTs). Findings showed that OM removal efficiencies were 55.2–80.8%, 28.1–71.9% and 72.1–79.7% for ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (UV-254), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) respectively, under 1 day-HRT, whereas higher initial DOC concentration achieved better removal efficiencies. Changing from 1 day-HRT to 2 day-HRT, the removal efficiency of OMs remained practically unchanged, while that of NH₃-N increased considerably, from 61.7% to 73.0%, implying that the removal of ammonia in CW needs a longer time for complete treatment. CW also showed an excellent performance in removing TC, especially in the first two hours of operation through the absorption process. In addition, the findings from this research revealed an improvement in effluent water quality when photocatalysis (TiO₂/α-Al₂O₃, with ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation) was used as the post-treatment following CW, presented by the increase in removal efficiency of OMs of the combined system compared to that of CW alone. This study points to the possible and promising application of the low-cost water treatment system for dealing with OMs and TC in water.

The effects of synthetic goethite (α-FeOOH) used as the catalyst in catalytic ozonation for the degradation of disinfection by-product (DBP) precursors are investigated. A biofiltration column applied following the catalytic ozonation process is used to evaluate the efficiency of removing DBP precursors via biotreatment. Ozone can rapidly react with aromatic compounds and oxidize organic compounds, resulting in a decrease in the fluorescence intensity of dissolved organic matter (DOM). In addition, catalytic ozonation can break down large organic molecules, which causes a blue shift in the emission-excitation matrix spectra. Water treated with catalytic ozonation is composed of low-molecular structures, including soluble microbial products (SMPs) and other aromatic proteins (APs). The DOM in SMPs and APs is removed by subsequent biofiltration. Catalytic ozonation has a higher removal efficiency for dissolved organic carbon and higher ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm compared to those of ozonation without a catalyst. The use of catalytic ozonation and subsequent biofiltration leads to a lower DBP formation potential during chlorination compared to that obtained using ozonation and catalytic ozonation alone. Regarding DBP species during chlorination, the bromine incorporation factor (BIF) of trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids increases with increasing catalyst dosage in catalytic ozonation. Moreover, the highest BIF is obtained for catalytic ozonation and subsequent biofiltration.