Dielectric barrier discharge plasma-assisted modification of g-C3N4/Ag2O/TiO2-NRs composite enhanced photoelectrocatalytic activity

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma applied as surface treatment technology was employed for the modification of Ag₂O and graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) powders. Subsequently, the pretreated powders were sequentially loaded onto TiO₂ nanorods (TiO₂-NRs) via electro-deposition, followed by calcination at N₂ atmosphere. The results indicated that at the optimal plasma discharge time of 5 min for modification of g-C₃N₄ and Ag₂O, photocurrent density of ternary composite was 6 times to bare TiO₂-NRs under UV-visible light irradiation. Phenol was degraded by using DBD plasma-modified g-C₃N₄/Ag₂O/TiO₂-NRs electrode to analyze the photoelectrocatalytic performance. The removal rate of phenol for g-C₃N₄-5/Ag₂O-5/TiO₂-NRs electrode was about 3.07 times to that for TiO₂-NRs electrode. During active species scavengers' analysis, superoxide radicals and hydroxyl radicals were the main oxidation active species for pollutants degradation. A possible electron-hole separation and transfer mechanism of ternary composite with high photoelectrocatalytic performance was proposed.

Degradation pathway of malachite green in a novel dual-tank photoelectrochemical catalytic reactor

A novel dual-tank photoelectrochemical catalytic reactor was designed to investigate the degradation pathway of malachite green. A thermally formed TiO₂/Ti thin film electrode was used as photoanode, graphite was used as cathode, and a saturated calomel electrode was employed as the reference electrode in the reactor. In the reactor, the anode and cathode tanks were connected by a cation exchange membrane. Results showed that the decolorization ratio of malachite green in the anode and cathode was 98.5 and 96.5% after 120 min, respectively. Malachite green in the two anode and cathode tanks was oxidized, achieving the bipolar double effect. Malachite green in both the anode and cathode tanks exhibited similar catalytic degradation pathways. The double bond of the malachite green molecule was attacked by strong oxidative hydroxyl radicals, after which the organic compound was degraded by the two pathways into 4,4-bis(dimethylamino) benzophenone, 4-(dimethylamino) benzophenone, 4-(dimethylamino) phenol, and other intermediate products. Eventually, malachite green was degraded into oxalic acid as a small molecular organic acid, which was degraded by processes such as demethylation, deamination, nitration, substitution, addition, and other reactions.