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Disclosing the mutual influence of photocatalytic fuel cell and photoelectro-Fenton process in the fabrication of a sustainable hybrid system for efficient Amaranth dye removal and simultaneous electricity production

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Abstract

Photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) was employed to provide renewable power sources to photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) process to fabricate a double-chambered hybrid system for the treatment of azo dye, Amaranth. The PFC-PEF hybrid system was interconnected by a circuit attached to the electrodes in PFC and PEF. Circuit connection is the principal channel for the electron transfer and mobility between PFC and PEF. Thus, different circuit connections were evaluated in the hybrid system for their influences on the Amaranth dye degradation. The PFC-PEF system under the complete circuit connection condition attained the highest decolourization efficiency of Amaranth (PFC: 98.85%; PEF: 95.69%), which indicated that the complete circuit connection was crucial for in-situ formation of reactive species in dye degradation. Besides, the pivotal role of ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation in the PFC-PEF system for both dye degradation and electricity generation was revealed through various UV light–illuminating conditions applied for PFC and PEF. A remarkable influence of UV light irradiation on the production of hydrogen peroxide and generation and regeneration of Fe2+ in PEF was demonstrated. This study provided a comprehensive mechanistic insight into the dye degradation and electricity generation by the PFC-PEF system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Perlis, Malaysia

    Shen-Hui Thor, Li-Ngee Ho & Kea-Lee Yap

  2. Water Research and Environmental Sustainability Growth, Centre of Excellence (WAREG), Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Perlis, Malaysia

    Soon-An Ong & Che Zulzikrami Azner Abidin

  3. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Perlis, Malaysia

    Cheng-Yong Heah

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  1. Shen-Hui Thor
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  2. Li-Ngee Ho
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Contributions

Shen-Hui Thor: Methodology, Visualization, Writing—original draft preparation. Li-Ngee Ho: Supervision, Conceptualization, Writing—review & editing. Soon-An Ong: Funding acquisition, Project administration. Che Zulzikrami Azner Abidin: Validation. Cheng-Yong Heah: Validation. Kea-Lee Yap: Validation.

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Thor, SH., Ho, LN., Ong, SA. et al. Disclosing the mutual influence of photocatalytic fuel cell and photoelectro-Fenton process in the fabrication of a sustainable hybrid system for efficient Amaranth dye removal and simultaneous electricity production. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 34363–34377 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24647-5

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