Efficient degradation of rhodamine B with sustainable electricity generation in a photocatalytic fuel cell using visible light Ag3PO4/Fe/GTiP photoanode and ZnIn2S4 photocathode

Abstract

Abstract In this study, a novel heterojunction silver phosphate-iron-graphene oxide -titanium phosphate (Ag3PO4/Fe/GTiP) composite was fabricated by the simple chemical process. The prepared composite was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). This catalyst was used as anode material in photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) with cathode catalyst ZnIn2S4 for efficient degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) with sustainable electricity generation. In PFC the degradation of 90% RhB (10 mg/l) with electricity generation of 0.18 V during 70 min was achieved at pH-3 of 0.05 M Na2SO4 electrolyte. By increasing the RhB concentration up to 100 mg/l the electricity generation was increased up to 0.55 V. Under pure photocatalysis degraded 92.14% RhB (10 mg/l) with Ag3PO4/Fe/GTiP in 90 min. The discoloration efficiency and electricity generation are influenced by factors such as pH, external resistance, dye concentration, and aeration rate in the PFC. After four cycles of reuse, there was no decrease in PFC performance, which proves its positivity for sustainable energy generation as a greener technology.