E-waste derived CuAu bimetallic catalysts supported on carbon cloth enabling effective degradation of bisphenol A via an electro-Fenton process

Abstract

Extensive utilization and excessive accumulation of bisphenol A (BPA) has posed a serious threat to the whole ecosystem, necessitating the rational design of metal-based catalysts capable of complete mineralization of BPA via electrochemical oxidation. Considering the shortage of metals resources and ever-increasing generation of electronic waste (e-waste), converting e-waste into high-performance catalysts is highly expected to offer an economical and feasible means to achieve the degradation of BPA. To this end, CuAu bimetallic catalysts are in situ electro-codeposited on the carbon cloth (CC) support with the waste central processing unit (CPU) leachate as electrolyte. Significantly, the recovered CuAu/CC composites can be directly applied as an efficient electrocatalyst for the decontamination of BPA via the electro-Fenton process. The electrocatalytic activities of the fabricated CuAu/CC electrodes can be regulated by tuning the reduction potentials during electro-deposition process. Under the optimized operational conditions, 99.5 % of BPA (50 mg/L) is removed within 120 min at a constant cathodic potential of −1.0 V (vs Ag/AgCl) in the CuAu/CC-mediated electro-Fenton system, accompanied by 64.2 % of total organic carbon (TOC) removal, highlighting a satisfactory performance of the BPA electrochemical oxidation. In addition, the proposed CuAu/CC electrode material can be facilely regenerated and reused for at least ten cycles without significant decline in BPA removal efficiency. Our work offers valuable guidance for upcycling of bimetallic alloy catalysts from e-waste and further application in electrochemical decontamination of organic pollutants, achieving the innovative target of “using waste to treat waste.”