Efficient tetracycline degradation and electricity production in photocatalytic fuel cell based on ZnO nanorod/BiOBr/UiO-66-NH2 photoanode and Cu2O/CuO photocathode
Masoomeh Ghorbani, Ali Reza Solaimany Nazar, Mehrdad Farhadian, Shahram Tangestaninejad
Abstract
Photocatalytic fuel cells (PFC) provide a new approach to organic pollutants degradation from wastewater and energy generation . A new type of dual photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) consisted of a ZnO NRs/BiOBr/UiO-66-NH 2 (ZBU) photoanode and a Cu 2 O/CuO/Cu photocathode was constructed for tetracycline (TC) degradation, and simultaneously electricity production . The photodegradation and electrochemical properties gained at the ZBU/FTO photoanode are better than those of ZB/FTO and ZnO/FTO. The synthesized electrodes were characterized by XRD , FE-SEM, EDX , TEM , UV–Vis DRS , and PL analyses. The tests performed in the PFC system displayed that the closed-circuit removal efficiency is better than that in the open-circuit. At optimum conditions: light intensity = 10.13 mW/cm 2 , time = 45min, pH = 6.8, and TC concentration = 20 mg/L, the efficiency of TC degradation and the maximum output power were obtained at 97.1%, and 29.26 μW/cm 2 , respectively. The effects of the NaCl , NaHCO 3 , and Na 2 SO 4 electrolytes were evaluated, and the current density of the Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte was about 1.8 and 1.5 times higher than those of the NaHCO 3 and NaCl electrolytes, respectively. The new PFC system showed well reusability after four cycles.