Urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are among the major sources of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) release to surface water. This is mainly associated with the low performance of conventional technologies (e.g. activated sludge, sand filtration and UV disinfection processes) for the removal of residual amounts (ng L⁻¹–μg L⁻¹) of CECs. In this review, a list of CECs commonly detected in the aquatic environments is presented. Light-driven chemical/catalytic processes for CECs removal, namely UV/oxidant and photocatalysis, are presented with discussion of their process, advantages, drawbacks, and the main attainments. In this context, process intensification has been gaining high relevance for wastewater treatment purposes due to its potential to overcome the main treatment limitations. Accordingly, an overview of advances to overcome the limitations in light-driven chemical/catalytic processes for CECs mitigation was carried out, focusing mainly on the design of novel reactors and devices. Some aspects related to reactor configuration, removal mechanism, devices applied, illumination system, comparison criteria, and catalyst immobilization through implementation of novel reactors designs are also discussed. Regarding the reactor design, several devices exhibit a satisfactory mass transfer due to a large surface-to-volume ratio or enhanced mixing conditions. However, improvements in photon transfer are still the biggest challenge to be overcome. The irradiation of the entire reaction solution and/or catalyst surface has shown to be challenging in many reactor configurations. Nevertheless, the reactor design and treatment process to be applied for CECs removal must be selected according to the site-specific conditions, in order to accomplish CECs mitigation and attain the best reactor performance.

城市废水处理厂（WWTP）是释放到地表水中的新兴污染物（CEC）的主要来源之一。这主要与常规技术（例如活性污泥，砂滤和紫外线消毒工艺）去除残留量（ng L ^-1 –μg L ^-1）的效率低有关。）的CEC。在这篇综述中，列出了在水生环境中通常检测到的CEC。介绍了用于去除CEC的光驱动化学/催化过程，即UV /氧化剂和光催化，并讨论了它们的过程，优点，缺点和主要成就。在这种情况下，工艺强化因其有可能克服主要的处理限制而在废水处理方面具有很高的相关性。因此，对克服光催化化学/催化过程中限制CECs的局限性的进展进行了概述，主要集中在新型反应器和装置的设计上。与反应堆配置，移除机制，应用的设备，照明系统，比较标准，还讨论了通过实施新颖的反应器设计来固定催化剂。关于反应器的设计，由于大的表面体积比或增强的混合条件，几种装置表现出令人满意的传质。但是，改善光子传输仍然是要克服的最大挑战。在许多反应器配置中，整个反应溶液和/或催化剂表面的辐射显示出挑战性。然而，必须根据现场具体情况选择用于去除CEC的反应堆设计和处理工艺，以实现CEC的缓解并获得最佳反应堆性能。由于表面积/体积比大或混合条件增强，几种装置都表现出令人满意的传质效果。但是，改善光子传输仍然是要克服的最大挑战。在许多反应器配置中，整个反应溶液和/或催化剂表面的辐射显示出挑战性。然而，必须根据现场具体情况选择用于去除CEC的反应堆设计和处理工艺，以实现CEC的缓解并获得最佳反应堆性能。由于表面积/体积比大或混合条件增强，几种装置都表现出令人满意的传质效果。但是，改善光子传输仍然是要克服的最大挑战。在许多反应器配置中，整个反应溶液和/或催化剂表面的辐射显示出挑战性。然而，必须根据现场具体情况选择用于去除CEC的反应堆设计和处理工艺，以实现CEC的缓解并获得最佳反应堆性能。