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

S. Alkharabsheh; S. McMichael; A. Singhal; A. Rioja-Cabanillas; P. Zamora; V. Monsalvo; F. Rogalla; J. A. Byrne; P. Fernández-Ibáñez

doi:10.1016/j.psep.2023.12.009

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

S. Alkharabsheh, S. McMichael, A. Singhal, A. Rioja-Cabanillas, P. Zamora, V. Monsalvo, F. Rogalla, J. A. Byrne, P. Fernández-Ibáñez

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Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	833-844
Number of pages	12
Journal	Process Safety and Environmental Protection
Volume	182
Early online date	21 Dec 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2023.12.009
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - 29 Feb 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We wish to thank the Marie Curie European H2020 Research and Innovation Action ( H2020-MSCA-ITN-EID-812574 ) for funding this research under the REWATERGY . We thank Pro-Photonix Ltd. (Ireland) for the UVA-LED source design, setting up, and technical support.

Funding Information:
We wish to thank the Marie Curie European H2020 Research and Innovation Action (H2020-MSCA-ITN-EID-812574) for funding this research under the REWATERGY. We thank Pro-Photonix Ltd. (Ireland) for the UVA-LED source design, setting up, and technical support.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023

Funding

Funding Information: We wish to thank the Marie Curie European H2020 Research and Innovation Action ( H2020-MSCA-ITN-EID-812574 ) for funding this research under the REWATERGY . We thank Pro-Photonix Ltd. (Ireland) for the UVA-LED source design, setting up, and technical support. Funding Information: We wish to thank the Marie Curie European H2020 Research and Innovation Action (H2020-MSCA-ITN-EID-812574) for funding this research under the REWATERGY. We thank Pro-Photonix Ltd. (Ireland) for the UVA-LED source design, setting up, and technical support. Publisher Copyright: © 2023

Keywords

Photoelectrocatalysis
RGO
TiO2
UVA-LED reactor
Diclofenac
TiO

Access to Document

10.1016/j.psep.2023.12.009

1-s2.0-S0957582023010972-mainFinal published version, 6.8 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Alkharabsheh, S., McMichael, S., Singhal, A., Rioja-Cabanillas, A., Zamora, P., Monsalvo, V., Rogalla, F., Byrne, J. A., & Fernández-Ibáñez, P. (2024). Bench-scale photoelectrocatalytic reactor utilizing rGO-TiO2 photoanodes for the degradation of contaminants of emerging concern in water. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 182, 833-844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2023.12.009

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

abstract = "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.",

keywords = "Photoelectrocatalysis, RGO, TiO2, UVA-LED reactor, Diclofenac, TiO",

author = "S. Alkharabsheh and S. McMichael and A. Singhal and A. Rioja-Cabanillas and P. Zamora and V. Monsalvo and F. Rogalla and Byrne, \{J. A.\} and P. Fern{\'a}ndez-Ib{\'a}{\~n}ez",

note = "Funding Information: We wish to thank the Marie Curie European H2020 Research and Innovation Action ( H2020-MSCA-ITN-EID-812574 ) for funding this research under the REWATERGY . We thank Pro-Photonix Ltd. (Ireland) for the UVA-LED source design, setting up, and technical support. Funding Information: We wish to thank the Marie Curie European H2020 Research and Innovation Action (H2020-MSCA-ITN-EID-812574) for funding this research under the REWATERGY. We thank Pro-Photonix Ltd. (Ireland) for the UVA-LED source design, setting up, and technical support. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023",

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Alkharabsheh, S, McMichael, S, Singhal, A, Rioja-Cabanillas, A, Zamora, P, Monsalvo, V, Rogalla, F, Byrne, JA & Fernández-Ibáñez, P 2024, 'Bench-scale photoelectrocatalytic reactor utilizing rGO-TiO2 photoanodes for the degradation of contaminants of emerging concern in water', Process Safety and Environmental Protection, vol. 182, pp. 833-844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2023.12.009

TY - JOUR

T1 - Bench-scale photoelectrocatalytic reactor utilizing rGO-TiO2 photoanodes for the degradation of contaminants of emerging concern in water

AU - Alkharabsheh, S.

AU - McMichael, S.

AU - Singhal, A.

AU - Rioja-Cabanillas, A.

AU - Zamora, P.

AU - Monsalvo, V.

AU - Rogalla, F.

AU - Byrne, J. A.

AU - Fernández-Ibáñez, P.

N1 - Funding Information: We wish to thank the Marie Curie European H2020 Research and Innovation Action ( H2020-MSCA-ITN-EID-812574 ) for funding this research under the REWATERGY . We thank Pro-Photonix Ltd. (Ireland) for the UVA-LED source design, setting up, and technical support. Funding Information: We wish to thank the Marie Curie European H2020 Research and Innovation Action (H2020-MSCA-ITN-EID-812574) for funding this research under the REWATERGY. We thank Pro-Photonix Ltd. (Ireland) for the UVA-LED source design, setting up, and technical support. Publisher Copyright: © 2023

PY - 2024/2/29

Y1 - 2024/2/29

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Photoelectrocatalysis

KW - RGO

KW - TiO2

KW - UVA-LED reactor

KW - Diclofenac

KW - TiO

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85180406866

U2 - 10.1016/j.psep.2023.12.009

DO - 10.1016/j.psep.2023.12.009

M3 - Article

SN - 0957-5820

VL - 182

SP - 833

EP - 844

JO - Process Safety and Environmental Protection

JF - Process Safety and Environmental Protection

ER -

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic oxidation of nitrogen compounds in wastewater

UVA-photoelectrocatalytic reactor for the treatment of wastewater effluents: emerging pollutants degradation and bacteria inactivation

Cite this

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Student theses

Photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic oxidation of nitrogen compounds in wastewater

UVA-photoelectrocatalytic reactor for the treatment of wastewater effluents: emerging pollutants degradation and bacteria inactivation

Cite this