Development of a wireless feeding system for highly effective electro-photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants from aqueous solutions

Abstract

In this study, we presented a novel wireless electro-photocatalytic (WEPC) process for the degradation of an industrial model dye RO29. The wireless electrochemical configuration consists of two titanium mesh sheets as feeder electrodes feeding an anodic bipolar electrode coated with Dysprosium (III) Oxide (Dy2O3)/graphite/Titanium oxide (TiO2) electro-photocatalytic. It was shown that this electrode arrangement can greatly boost electro-photocatalytic activity by lowering the recombination rate of electron/hole (e/h+) in the electro-photocatalytic, resulting in the rapid production of oxidizing species (•OH, O•). The experimental parameters such as potential gradient, initial pH, and reaction time were optimized to produce the best degradation performance based on chemical oxygen demand (COD) data. Under optimal conditions, a decolorization efficiency and degradation efficiency were found of 98% and 65%, respectively reached in 120 minutes, which is significantly greater than that of a standard two-electrode setup (75%, and 25%). The results also revealed that the percent degradation for developed and conventional systems is 65% and 29%, respectively. The results also showed that RO29 decay has quasi-first-order kinetics. The created WEPC is a simple setup with significant advantages such as high degradation performance, high energy efficiency, and the ability to operate without the use of supporting electrolytes and oxidation additives.