Enhanced organic pollutants degradation and electricity production simultaneously via strengthening the radicals reaction in a novel Fenton-photocatalytic fuel cell system

An enhanced result in organic pollutants degradation and simultaneous electricity production has been achieved by establishing a novel Fenton-photocatalytic fuel cell (Fenton-PFC) system in which TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNA) was designed as a photoanode and ferrous ions were added. The proposed Fenton-PFC system can expand the radical reaction for organic pollutants degradation from the surface of electrodes to the whole solution system due to a continuous photoelectric Fenton reaction without continually adding any external voltage and ferrous ions. The cyclic reactions between ferrous ions (Fe2+/Fe3+) and radicals and related species (HO center dot, HO2 center dot, O-2(-)center dot and H2O2 etc.) can be achieved at electrodes surface via a self-bias voltage yielded by the PFC. More importantly, the proposed Fenton-PFC system has hardly any sludge due to an effective radical reaction using a small amount of ferrous ions. The degradation rate of refractory organics, such as methyl orange, methylene blue, congo red and tetracycline, increased from 34.99%, 43.75%, 40.58% and 34.40% (the traditional PFC without Fe2+) to 97.34%, 95.36%, 93.23% and 73.80% (the Fenton-PFC within Fe2+) respectively after 60 min operation. Meanwhile, the electricity generation is up to 1.21-2.04 times larger than the traditional PFC. The proposed Fenton-PFC system provides a more economical and efficient way for energy recovery and wastewater treatment. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.