Converting synthetic azo dye and real textile wastewater into clean energy by using synthesized CuO/C as photocathode in dual-photoelectrode photocatalytic fuel cell.

Abstract

Cathode in photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) plays a crucial role in degradation of organic contaminants. In this study, synthesized copper oxide (CuO) was loaded on carbon plate and used as photocathode in PFC for degradation of synthetic azo dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5) and real textile wastewater. Morphology and structural phase of the synthesized CuO were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Several operating parameters had been investigated such as light irradiation, initial dye concentration, and pH of azo dye solution within 6h of irradiation time. The lowest initial concentration of RB5 (10mg L-1) achieved 100% color removal compared to the highest initial concentration (40mg L-1) which only achieved 77.1% color removal within 6h of irradiation time. The influence of external resistance was significant in electricity generation but trivial in dye degradation efficiency. The external resistance of 6000 Ω yielded highest maximum power density, with Pmax of 0.2631μWcm-2, followed by 1000 Ω (0.2196μWcm-2) and 8000 Ω (0.1587μWcm-2), respectively. The real textile wastewater with dilution ratio (DR) 1:6 yielded the highest energy conversion efficiency, η (3.62%), followed by DR 1:4 (3.19%) and DR 1:2 (1.96%), respectively.