Thaum ntxov li 30s ntawm lub xyoo pua 20th, cov ntaub ntawv photocatalyst raws li zinc oxide tau pom. Xyoo 1967, Xib Fwb Kenichi Honda thiab tus kws kho mob cov tub ntxhais kawm Akira Fujishima ntawm University of Tokyo tshawb pom tias cov dej electrolysis tuaj yeem ua tau los ntawm irradiating titanium dioxide electrodes nrog lub teeb, uas yog "Honda-Fujishima Effect", uas qhib lub qhov rooj rau daim ntawv thov. titanium dioxide nyob rau hauv lub tshav pob ntawm photocatalysis. Xyoo 1972, Xwm tau luam tawm Fujishima thiab Honda txoj kev tshawb fawb ntawm photocatalysis hauv thaj chaw ntawm photolysis ntawm dej. Nws tau qhib ib tshooj tshiab hauv kev tshawb fawb photocatalytic.
Xyoo 1976, Garey et al. pioneered daim ntawv thov ntawm photocatalysts nyob rau hauv kev tiv thaiv ib puag ncig, siv photocatalysis degrade cov pa phem nyob rau hauv dej. Txij thaum ntawd los, nws tau dhau los ua kev tshawb fawb tseem ceeb los nthuav dav daim ntawv thov ntawm cov khoom siv semiconductor photocatalyst hauv kev tshawb fawb txog lub neej thiab hloov lub teeb lub zog rau hauv lwm lub zog.
Xyoo 2015, ib lub tuam txhab Nyij Pooj tau tsim ib hom tshiab ntawm photocatalyst particle uas xav tias yuav daws tau qhov teeb meem ntawm dej tsis txaus. Cov khoom no yog tsim los ntawm zeolite hais thiab titanium dioxide hais, uas tau muab sib xyaw ua ke hauv cov dej phwj tuaj raws li ultraviolet irradiation, uas tuaj yeem ntxuav cov dej phwj tuaj mus rau qib haus. Cov cuab yeej tshiab photocatalyst dej purification yog yooj yim heev thiab muaj txiaj ntsig, thiab tuaj yeem lim dej txog li 3 tons hauv 1 hnub. Cov ntaub ntawv zoo thiab huv si photocatalyst tau nyiam cov xim muaj zog hauv lub sijhawm ntawm kev txuag hluav taws xob.