Synergistic enhancement of piezocatalysis and electrochemical oxidation for the degradation of ciprofloxacin by PbO2 intercalation material

Piezocatalysis-combined advanced oxidation processes for organic pollutant degradation in water system

The piezoelectric catalyst process has emerged as a promising technology for energy harvesting, effectively converting natural mechanical energies, such as wind, water flow, and waves, into usable electrical energy using piezoelectric materials. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in applying this technology to water treatment to address environmental challenges. Concurrently, research efforts have focused on enhancing the efficiency of piezoelectric catalysis by integrating it with advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). This combination has demonstrated significantly better performance than traditional single-process methods. This review offers a comprehensive overview of the fundamental principles of piezocatalysis and explores the evolution of research in this field. It provides a detailed analysis of how piezocatalysis has been developed and applied, particularly in water treatment. The review also includes a comparative assessment of various processes used to remove organic pollutants from water, focusing on recent advancements that combine piezocatalysis with AOPs. Furthermore, the limitations of the current research were discussed, and future research directions were suggested based on the overall findings. By summarizing the progress and challenges in this area, the review aims to provide valuable insights and guide future studies to enhance the effectiveness and application of piezoelectric catalysis in environmental remediation.

Microenvironment Engineering of Heterogeneous Catalysts for Liquid-Phase Environmental Catalysis

Environmental catalysis has emerged as a scientific frontier in mitigating water pollution and advancing circular chemistry and reaction microenvironment significantly influences the catalytic performance and efficiency. This review delves into microenvironment engineering within liquid-phase environmental catalysis, categorizing microenvironments into four scales: atom/molecule-level modulation, nano/microscale-confined structures, interface and surface regulation, and external field effects. Each category is analyzed for its unique characteristics and merits, emphasizing its potential to significantly enhance catalytic efficiency and selectivity. Following this overview, we introduced recent advancements in advanced material and system design to promote liquid-phase environmental catalysis (e.g., water purification, transformation to value-added products, and green synthesis), leveraging state-of-the-art microenvironment engineering technologies. These discussions showcase microenvironment engineering was applied in different reactions to fine-tune catalytic regimes and improve the efficiency from both thermodynamics and kinetics perspectives. Lastly, we discussed the challenges and future directions in microenvironment engineering. This review underscores the potential of microenvironment engineering in intelligent materials and system design to drive the development of more effective and sustainable catalytic solutions to environmental decontamination.

A review on reactive oxygen species generation, anode materials and operating parameters in sonoelectrochemical oxidation for wastewater remediation

The application of sonoelectrochemical (SEC) oxidation technique involving the incorporation of ultrasound irradiation into an electrochemical oxidation system has found enormous success for various purposes, especially for organic synthesis and water treatment. Although its industrial application towards the removal of organic contaminants in water is not popular, its success on the laboratory scale is often attributed to the physical and chemical effects. These effects arise from the influence of ultrasound irradiation, thus eliminating electrode passivation or fouling, improving mass transfer and enhancing reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. The continuous activation of the electrode surface, improved reaction kinetics and other associated advantages are equally occasioned by acoustic streaming and cavitation. This review hereby outlines common ROS generated in SEC oxidation and pathways to their generation. Furthermore, classes of materials commonly employed as anodes and the influence of prominent operational parameters on the performance of the technique for the degradation of organic pollutants in water are extensively discussed. Hence, this study seeks to broaden the significant promises offered by SEC oxidation to environmentally sustainable technology advances in water treatment and pollution remediation.

Advancements in electrochemical technologies for the removal of fluoroquinolone antibiotics in wastewater: A review

In recent times, the need to make water safer and cleaner through the elimination of recalcitrant pharmaceutical residues has been the aim of many studies. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, enrofloxacin, and levofloxacin are among the commonly detected pharmaceuticals in wastewater. Since the presence of these pharmaceuticals in water bodies poses serious risks to living organisms, it is vital to adopt effective wastewater treatment techniques for their complete removal. Electrochemical technologies such as photoelectrocatalysis, electro-Fenton, electrocoagulation, and electrochemical oxidation have been established as techniques capable of the complete removal of organics including pharmaceuticals from wastewater. Hence, this review presents discussions on the recent progress (literature within 2018-2022) in the applications of common electrochemical processes for the degradation of fluoroquinolone antibiotics from wastewater. The fundamentals of these processes are highlighted while the results obtained using the processes are critically discussed. Furthermore, the inherent advantages and limitations of these processes in the mineralization of fluoroquinolone antibiotics are clearly emphasized. Additionally, appropriate recommendations are made toward improving electrochemical technologies for the complete removal of these pharmaceuticals with minimal energy consumption. Therefore, this review will serve as a bedrock for future researchers concerned with wastewater treatments to make informed decisions in the selection of suitable electrochemical techniques for the removal of pharmaceuticals from wastewater.