Department of Chemical of Materials, Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, University of Santiago de Chile (USACH), Casilla 40, Correo 33, Santiago, Chile; Research Group of Analysis, Treatments, Electrochemistry, Recovery and Reuse of Water (WATER2), Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Facultad de Química y de Farmacia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
Chemosphere. 2024 Jan;348:140764. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140764. Epub 2023 Nov 20.
In the present work, the catalytic efficiency of inks based on different carbon materials, namely activated carbon (AC), carbon graphite (CG), and carbon black (CB) was investigated for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Additionally, we explored the feasibility of using this ink as a coating for an Aluminum foam (Al) cathode in an electrochemical cell. The goal was to utilize this setup to produce hydrogen peroxide (HO) in the electro-Fenton (EF) process, targeting for treating water contaminated with contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Among the materials investigated, all of them exhibited the ability to facilitate the ORR. However, AC proved to be the most suitable material due to its optimal balance between physical and electrocatalytic properties, thus enabling the formation of HO. When the different inks were applied to the surface of aluminum foam, it was observed that only the ink based on carbon black CB achieved a homogeneous distribution with the same ink quantity. As a result, it was observed that the Alfoam/CB electrode exhibited the highest HO generation capacity, producing 45.6 mg L, followed by electro-generation of 5.1 mg L using Alfoam/AC and 11 mg L using Alfoam/CG. Furthermore, the application of Alfoam/CB in EF processes allowed for the almost complete degradation of 15 emerging contaminants of concern (CECs) present in secondary effluent. The innovative outcome of this study positions the developed technology as a promising and effective alternative for the treatment of water contaminated with CECs, demonstrating significant potential for industrial-scale application.
在本工作中，研究了基于不同碳材料的墨水，即活性炭 (AC)、碳石墨 (CG) 和碳黑 (CB)，在氧还原反应 (ORR) 中的催化效率。此外，我们还探索了将这种墨水用作电化学电池中铝泡沫 (Al) 阴极涂层的可行性。目标是利用该装置在电芬顿 (EF) 过程中产生过氧化氢 (HO)，以处理含有新兴关注污染物 (CECs) 的污染水。在所研究的材料中，它们都表现出促进 ORR 的能力。然而，AC 由于其物理和电催化性能之间的最佳平衡，被证明是最适合的材料，从而能够形成 HO。当将不同的墨水施加到铝泡沫的表面时，观察到只有基于碳黑 CB 的墨水实现了相同墨水量的均匀分布。结果表明，Alfoam/CB 电极表现出最高的 HO 生成能力，产生 45.6mg L，其次是使用 Alfoam/AC 的电生成 5.1mg L 和使用 Alfoam/CG 的电生成 11mg L。此外，在 EF 过程中应用 Alfoam/CB 允许在二次废水中存在的 15 种新兴关注污染物 (CECs) 几乎完全降解。这项研究的创新成果将开发的技术定位为处理含有 CECs 的污染水的一种有前途和有效的替代方法，显示出在工业规模应用方面的巨大潜力。
