Bench-scale photoelectrocatalytic reactor utilizing rGO-TiO2 photoanodes for the degradation of contaminants of emerging concern in water

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products are contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) in water. Photocatalysis (PC) and photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) are potential advanced oxidation processes for the effective degradation of these contaminants. In this work a bench-scale photoelectrocatalytic reactor utilizing a UVA-LED array was designed and tested for the degradation of diclofenac as a model CEC. Reduced graphene oxide-titanium dioxide (rGO-TiO₂) composite, prepared by the photocatalytic reduction of rGO on TiO₂, was immobilised on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass and evaluated as a photoanode. The influence of UVA intensity and rGO:TiO₂ ratio on the degradation rate was studied. Surface modification of the TiO₂ with 1% rGO gave the highest photocurrent and best degradation rate of diclofenac, as compared to unmodified TiO₂. However, following repeat cycles of photoelectrocatalytic treatment there was an observed drop in the photocurrent with rGO-TiO₂ anodes and the rate of diclofenac degradation decreased. Raman and XPS analysis indicated the re-oxidation of the rGO. Attempts to regenerate the rGO in-situ by electrochemical reduction did not prove successful, suggesting that the site of photoelectrocatalytic oxidation of rGO was different to the reduction site targeted in the photocatalytic reduction for the formation of the rGO-TiO₂ composites.