3D-Printed Photoelectrochemical Cell and its Application in Evaluation of BiVO4 Photoanodes

Sunlight-driven green hydrogen production is emerging as a promising contribution to carbon emission reduction, for which semiconductors as water splitting photocatalysts have arisen as potential materials to reach the worldwide climate goals at a low cost. As photoanode materials for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), bismuth-containing semiconducting metal oxides, such as BiVO4, Bi2WO6 and Bi2MoO6, have shown convincingly visible-light-driven photocatalytic activities due to their well-matching band gaps and redox potentials of valence/conduction band positions (1). In particular, BiVO4 demonstrated formidable photocatalytic performance for water splitting (2). However, BiVO4 often suffers from fast recombination of the photo-generated electron-hole pairs, which limits the electron flow in photoelectrochemical cells (3).

A critical analysis of sono-hybrid advanced oxidation process of ferrioxalate system for degradation of recalcitrant pollutants

The emerging contaminants in wastewater discharged from numerous chemical process industries, pharmaceutical industries, textile, and wineries have attracted the attention of the scientific community due to their toxicity and persistence in the environment. The conventional techniques are incompetent to treat many of such recalcitrant toxic pollutants. To achieve high mineralization, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are found to be more efficient for the degradation of these organic pollutants without producing secondary pollutants with no/less amount of sludge. The primary oxidation agents for AOPs are in-situ generated free radicals, which are highly reactive and effective oxidants for degrading any type of organic molecules present in the wastewater. In the past decades, the combination of AOPs or simultaneous application of more than one AOP has been investigated extensively for wastewater treatment and these hybrid-AOPs have been reported to be beneficial for high-level mineralization of organic pollutants. This paper presented the characteristics, properties and influence of parameters in sono-photo-ferrioxalate system. The primary operating parameters in sono-photo-ferrioxalate system that affect the kinetics are defined as the solution pH, temperature, molar ratio of Fe³⁺/C₂O₄^2-, H₂O₂ concentration, source of light, ultrasound intensity, dissolved gases, and size of cavitation bubble. In this process, several oxidizing radicals are generated such as HO^•, HO₂^•, C₂O₄^•-, CO₂^•- and O₂^•- which are also responsible for degradation. In this review, we have mainly addressed the degradation of recalcitrant pollutants using the sono-photo-ferrioxalate system and a critical analysis of process parameters that influence mineralization efficiency.

Microbial electrosynthesis: Towards sustainable biorefineries for production of green chemicals from CO2 emissions

Decarbonisation of the economy has become a priority at the global level, and the resulting legislative pressure is pushing the chemical and energy industries away from fossil fuels. Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) has emerged as a promising technology to promote this transition, which will further benefit from the decreasing cost of renewable energy. However, several technological challenges need to be addressed before the MES technology can reach its maturity. The aim of this review is to critically discuss the bottlenecks hampering the industrial adoption of MES, considering the whole production process (from the CO₂ source to the marketable products), and indicate future directions. A flexible stack design, with flat or tubular MES modules and direct CO₂ supply, is required for site-specific decentralised applications. The experience gained for scaling-up electrochemical cells (e.g. electrolysers) can serve as a guideline for realising pilot MES stacks to be technologically and economically evaluated in industrially relevant conditions. Maximising CO₂ abatement rate by targeting high-rate production of acetate can promote adoption of MES technology in the short term. However, the development of a replicable and robust strategy for production and in-line extraction of higher-value products (e.g. caproic acid and hexanol) at the cathode, and meaningful exploitation of the currently overlooked anodic reactions, can further boost MES cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, the use of energy storage and smart electronics can alleviate the fluctuations of renewable energy supply. Despite the unresolved challenges, the flexible MES technology can be applied to decarbonise flue gas from different sources, to upgrade industrial and wastewater treatment plants, and to produce a wide array of green and sustainable chemicals. The combination of these benefits can support the industrial adoption of MES over competing technologies.

Sonochemical synthesis of amphoteric Cu0-Nanoparticles using Hibiscus rosa-sinensis extract and their applications for degradation of 5-fluorouracil and lovastatin drugs

Recent studies reported the detection of numerous emerging and active pharmaceutical constituents in the ground and surface water. To address these issues, the present study reported the ultrasound-assisted synthesis of zero-valent copper (Cu⁰) nanoparticles using Hibiscus rosa-sinensis extract as reducing and stabilizing agent. The catalyst was characterized using XRD, SEM, EDX, PSA, BET, etc., and the results revealed that sonochemical synthesis technique influenced the crystallinity with controlled growth of Cu⁰. While the hard ligand hydroxyl group (-OH) reduces the Cu²⁺ to Cu⁰ and soft ligand carbonyl group (CO) present in the oxidized polyphenols helps in capping and stabilizing the Cu⁰-nanoparticles. During the ultrasound application, continuous release of Cu⁺ from Cu⁰ promoted the degradation by producing OH and O₂^•- radicals. Approx. 91.3 % and 93.2 % degradation efficiencies were achieved for 5-fluorouracil and lovastatin. The results showed that Cu⁰ nanoparticles were amphoteric in nature and the synergy calculation revealed that ultrasound has a direct influence on degradation of drugs which are difficult to degrade/mineralize using conventional techniques. Based on the results, a possible degradation mechanism of drug molecules in the presence of oxidants, zero-valent copper and ultrasound has been proposed.

Mechanistic investigation in degradation mechanism of 5-Fluorouracil using graphitic carbon nitride

The present study reports the synthesis of metal-free polymeric catalyst, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), through sonochemical method followed by thermal treatment. The synthesized g-C₃N₄ was characterized using XRD, DRS, FESEM, TGA, EDX, etc. and the characterization results revealed that it possesses medium band-gap energy, high thermal and chemical stability. The photo-activity of the catalyst was also evaluated using degradation of 5-Fluorouracil under different experimental conditions. The results revealed that the addition of H₂O₂ during sonolysis process did not show any significant synergy. This is attributed to the low vapor pressure of H₂O₂ that does not allow it to diffuse into the cavitation bubble to produce OH radicals through sonolysis process. Using sono-hybrid process, more than 90% degradation was seen within 5 min of treatment with a rate constant of 3.95 × 10^-2 s^-1. In alkaline medium, 5-Fluorouracil degradation occurred through defluorination and subsequently substitution of -OH group to the aromatic ring leading to formation of intermediates such as 2-fluoro-3-oxopropanoic acid and urea. While sono-hybrid advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) helped towards complete mineralization through formation of smaller molecular compounds such as maleic acids, lactic acids, propanol, etc. On the other hand, the maximum synergy effect of ∼2.4 was seen for sonocatalysis process followed by hybrid-AOPs of (US + g-C₃N₄ + H₂O₂ + UVC) with a synergy factor of ∼2.2. Also, the synthesized catalyst exhibited the same catalytic activity even after 5 runs of sono-photocatalysis process for degradation of 5-Fluorouracil.

Facile approach for synthesis of stable, efficient, and recyclable ZnO through pulsed sonication and its application for degradation of recalcitrant azo dyes in wastewater

In the present study, the ultrasound in pulsed mode was used as a part of an advanced oxidation method. The influence of the pulsed ultrasound mode for the preparation of the zinc oxide (ZnO) wurtzite nanoparticle was investigated. The catalysts synthesized were analysed using SEM, TEM, EDAX, BET surface area, XRD, and DRS to study their morphological and structural characterizations. The ZnO nanoparticles exhibited a highly hexagonal structure from pulsed sonication synthesis route. The efficiency of the decolourization of the reactive red 4 (RR4) dye was studied under different operation parameters such as dye concentration, initial solution pH, oxidant (e.g., H2O2) concentration, and catalyst loading. The hybrid combined process of pulsed sonolysis, pH (4.0), H2O2 (17.64 mmol), and catalyst (0.35 g/L) achieved 97% degradation and 87.5% chemical oxygen demand removal in about 20 min of reaction time. The cyclic degradation studies of RR4 removal with 0.35 g/L of ZnO showed the reusability of catalyst up to the fifth removal cycle with negligible loss in the catalytic performance. GC–MS study, used for the detection of the RR4 intermediates, revealed the oxidation–reduction reaction by the reactive radicals proceeded via the reductive cleavage of the azo bonds. The studied process, based on the pulsed ultrasound, is found to be effective for the degradation of RR4 dye.

Synthesis of Fe-doped Bi2O3 nanocatalyst and its sonophotocatalytic activity on synthetic dye and real textile wastewater

The catalysts such as Fe, Bi₂O₃, and Fe-doped Bi₂O₃ were synthesized for the sonophotocatalytic treatment of synthetic dye and real textile wastewater. The resultant catalysts were characterized for its size and uniform shape using x-ray diffractogram (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) which signified the nanorod shape formed Bi₂O₃. The higher ultraviolet light absorbance capacity of the catalysts was also evident using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Initially, the effect of conventional parameters such as initial pH, gas bubbling (argon, oxygen, air and nitrogen) and oxidant addition (H₂O₂ and peroxymonosulfate) in the presence of sonolysis (22 and 37 kHz frequency) and photolysis (UV-C light) on 10 ppm Basic Brown 1 dye was studied. The results showed that highest decolorization of 62 % was attained for 3 g/L peroxymonosulfate under 37 kHz frequency sonolysis treatment. Secondly, with the catalyst study, highest of 46 % dye color removal was obtained with 4 g/L Fe under 37 kHz frequency sonolysis treatment. The sonophotocatalytic treatment of dye with Fe-doped Bi₂O₃ catalyst in combination with peroxymonosulfate showed highest color removal of 99 %. Finally, the sonophotocatalytic treatment of real textile wastewater in the presence of 3 g/L Fe-doped Bi₂O₃ and 6 g/L peroxymonosulfate reduced the total organic carbon (TOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) level to 77 and 91 %, respectively, in 180 min. The reported treatment process was found to treat the synthetic dye and real textile wastewater effectively.

Sonophotocatalytic treatment of Bismarck Brown G dye and real textile effluent using synthesized novel Fe(0)-doped TiO2 catalyst

Using a novel Fe(0)-TiO₂-doped catalyst, the degradation of Bismarck Brown G dye was compared by means of advanced oxidation processes, such as sonolysis, photolysis (UV light) and sonophotolysis. The sonophotolysis methodology was also adopted for real textile effluent.