Concurrent palm oil mill effluent degradation and power production by photocatalytic fuel cell

Abstract

Concurrent palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment and the electricity production was magnificently established by the as-fabricated photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC). The photoelectrodes were analyzed for its physical and chemical properties. The ZnO/Zn photoanode was observed to be uniform nanorods with size of 1000–1200 nm. The CuO/Cu photocathode was uniform nanoflakes in the length of 2143–2857 nm and the breadth of 286–571 nm. The EDX study revealed the respective elements on the photoelectrodes. As-established PFC was used to examine the COD and colour removal of POME, and its electricity generation under 240 minutes of UV illumination. The outcomes suggested that the as-prepared ZnO/Zn photoanode displayed higher COD (71 %) and colour (58 %) removal as compared with commercial ZnO/Zn photoanode. The system exhibited a greater short circuit current density and maximum power density of 0.0797 mA/cm2 and 0.0121 mW/cm2. The presence of 0.2 M sodium chloride as supporting electrolyte completely removed the COD and colour from the PFC system with the peak current density and maximum power density of 0.2113 mA/cm2 and 0.0337 mW/cm2 in the POME. PFC is a promising technology that can be used for efficient photocatalytic degradation and electricity production.