School of Resource and Environmental Sciences and Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Sustainable Resource and Energy, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, People's Republic of China.
School of Resource and Environmental Sciences and Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Sustainable Resource and Energy, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, People's Republic of China
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Aug 24;118(34). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2108573118.
Electro-Fenton processes aim at producing oxidizing radicals with fewer added chemicals and residues but are still unable to completely eliminate both. This study demonstrates that a reagent-free electro-Fenton process that runs solely on oxygen and electricity can be achieved by sequential dual-cathode electrocatalysis. HO is produced on an electrodeposited PEDOT on carbon cloth (PEDOT/CC) cathode and subsequently converted to hydroxyl radicals on a stainless-steel-mesh cathode. The dual-cathode system demonstrates efficient decolorization and total organic carbon (TOC) removal toward organic dyes at optimized cathodic potentials of -0.9 V for PEDOT/CC and -0.8 V for the stainless-steel mesh. The sequential dual-cathode process also displays high reusability, no iron leaching, high removal efficiency using air instead of oxygen, and low installation and operation costs. This work demonstrates a preeminent and commercially viable example of pollution control rendered by the "catalysis instead of chemical reagent" philosophy of green chemistry.
电芬顿工艺旨在使用较少的添加化学品和残留物来产生氧化自由基，但仍无法完全消除它们。本研究表明，通过顺序双阴极电催化，可以实现仅使用氧气和电力的无试剂电芬顿工艺。HO 在电沉积在碳纤维布（PEDOT/CC）阴极上的 PEDOT 上产生，并随后在不锈钢网阴极上转化为羟基自由基。在优化的阴极电势-0.9 V 下，双阴极系统对有机染料表现出高效的脱色和总有机碳（TOC）去除效果，对于 PEDOT/CC 阴极和-0.8 V 对于不锈钢网。顺序双阴极工艺还具有高可重复使用性、无铁浸出、使用空气而不是氧气的高去除效率以及低安装和运营成本。这项工作展示了一个卓越的、具有商业可行性的污染控制范例，体现了绿色化学的“催化而非化学试剂”理念。
