Ti-Fe_(2)O_(3)/Ni(OH)_(x) as an efficient and durable photoanode for the photoelectrochemical catalysis of PET plastic to formic acid

Photoelectrochemical(PEC) technology provides a promising prospect for the transformation of polyethylene terephthalate(PET) plastic wastes to produce value-added chemicals.The PEC catalytic systems with high activity,selectivity and long-term durability are required for the future up-scaling industrial applications.Herein,we employed the interfacial modification strategy to develop an efficient and stable photoanode and evaluated its PEC activity for ethylene glycol(EG,derived from PET hydrolysate) oxidation to formic acid.The interfacial modification between Fe_(2)O_(3)semiconductor and Ni(OH)xcocatalyst with ultrathin TiO_(x) interlayer not only improved the photocurrent density by accelerating the kinetics of photogenerated charge carriers,but also kept the high Faradaic efficiency(over 95% in 30 h) towards the value-added formic acid product.This work proposes an effective method to promote the PEC activity and enhance the long-term stability of photoelectrodes for upcycling PET plastic wastes.

Dielectr ic barr ier discharge plasma-assisted modification of g-C_(3)N_(4)/Ag_(2)O/TiO_(2)-NRs composite enhanced photoelectrocatalytic activity

Dielectric barrier discharge(DBD)plasma applied as surface treatment technology was employed for the modification of Ag_(2)O and graphitic carbon nitride(g-C_(3)N_(4))powders.Subsequently,the pretreated powders were sequentially loaded onto TiO_(2)nanorods(TiO_(2)-NRs)via electro-deposition,followed by calcination at N_(2)atmosphere.The results indicated that at the optimal plasma discharge time of 5 min for modification of g-C_(3)N_(4)and Ag_(2)O,photocurrent density of ternary composite was 6 times to bare TiO_(2)-NRs under UV-visible light irradiation.Phenol was degraded by using DBD plasma-modified g-C_(3)N_(4)/Ag_(2)O/TiO_(2)-NRs electrode to analyze the photoelectrocatalytic performance.The removal rate of phenol for g-C_(3)N_(4)-5/Ag_(2)O-5/TiO_(2)-NRs electrode was about 3.07 times to that for TiO_(2)-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.