Limitations and future directions of application of the Fenton-like process in micropollutants degradation in water and wastewater treatment: A critical review

Growing water scarcity and pollution are the main challenges that scientists need to focus on currently. Fenton-like processes are promising for applications related to water and wastewater treatment. Although there have been reviews on the fundamentals and applications of Fenton oxidation, a review focusing on the limitations of Fenton oxidation and their possible solutions is still insufficient. This review summarises the features, advantages, and drawbacks of the classic Fenton process. A comprehensive literature survey was conducted to review studies conducted over the last few decades dealing with the application of Fenton processes to organic pollutant removal from water and wastewater. The present overview highlights the modifications of Fenton processes focusing on industrial applications in water and wastewater treatment, especially for micropollutant degradation. Additionally, this study reviews the possibilities and future directions of research on Fenton-like processes to enable the incorporation of Fenton-based methods into existing water and wastewater treatment technologies, including industrial wastewater. It also presents a novel technological solution and improvements to the Fenton-like process to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost.