Plasma-assisted assembly of CoO/TiO-NRs for photoelectrocatalytic degradation of bisphenol A in solution and muddy systems.

Herein, CoO/TiO-NRs electrodes with excellent photoresponse have been prepared via the plasma-assisted modification of CoO on TiO. With the combination of CoO and TiO, the composite electrode exhibited a red-shift phenomenon and the absorption of UV and visible light were enhanced to improve the light utilization efficiency. The Mott-Schottky diagram showed that a P-N heterojunction was successfully formed between CoO and TiO on the electrode, which inhibited the recombination of electrons and holes, and had a high photocurrent density. In our photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) degradation experiments, the degradation rates of bisphenol A (BPA) by CoO/TiO-NRs electrode in NaSO and simulated seawater system reached 69.44 and 100%, respectively. The important role of ·O, ·OH, h, and active chlorine (Cl·, HClO/ClO, and Cl) on the CoO/TiO-NRs electrode during the degradation of BPA in simulated seawater was revealed. In addition, PEC combined with electrokinetic (EK) studies with the CoO/TiO-NRs electrode were used for the degradation of BPA in muddy water, initially expanding the application scope of the PEC performance of the CoO/TiO-NRs electrode for pollutants degradation, and had great potential for the subsequent treatment of muddy water pollutants.