Converting hazardous organics into clean energy using a solar responsive dual photoelectrode photocatalytic fuel cell.

Direct discharging great quantities of organics into water-body not only causes serious environmental pollution but also wastes energy sources. In this paper, a solar responsive dual photoelectrode photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC(2)) based on TiO2/Ti photoanode and Cu2O/Cu photocathode was designed for hazardous organics treatment with simultaneous electricity generation. Under solar irradiation, the interior bias voltage produced for the Fermi level difference between photoelectrodes drives photoelectrons of TiO2/Ti photoanode to combine with photoholes of Cu2O/Cu photocathode through external circuit thus generating electricity. In the meantime, organics are decomposed by photoholes remained at TiO2/Ti photoanode. By using various hazardous organics including azo dyes as model pollutants, the PFC showed high converting performance of organics into electricity. For example, in 0.05 M phenol solution, a short-circuit current density 0.23 mA cm(-2), open-circuit voltage 0.49 V, maximum power output 0.3610(-4)W cm(-2) was achieved. On the other hand, removal rate of chroma reached 67%, 87% and 63% in 8h for methyl orange, methylene blue, Congo red, respectively.

Self-biasing photoelectrochemical cell for spontaneous overall water splitting under visible-light illumination.

A self-biasing photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell that could work for spontaneous overall water splitting in a neutral solution was established based on the mismatched Fermi levels between the photoelectrodes. A Pt-catalyst-decorated crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell (Pt/PVC) was prepared and employed as an effective photocathode. This was coupled with a poly(ethylene glycol)-directed WO3/W photoanode prepared by a hydrothermal process. Both of the photoelectrodes showed a response to visible light. The WO3/W photoanode had a positively located valence band edge, the energy level of which was enough for water oxidation, and the Pt/PVC photocathode possessed a negatively located conduction band edge, which was capable of water reduction. More importantly, the Fermi level of the WO3/W photoanode was more positive than that of the Pt/PVC photocathode because of the p-n junction of the PVC that decoupled the band bending and enlarged the photovoltage. Under visible-light irradiation, the WO3/W photoanode provided a negative bias for the Pt/PVC photocathode, and the Pt/PVC photocathode provided a positive bias for the WO3/W photoanode. An interior bias was generated that could relax the strict criteria of overall water splitting by cooperatively separating the hole-electron pairs at both photoelectrodes. In this system, the short-circuit current and the open-circuit voltage increased with increasing light intensity (AM 1.5 illumination) to reach 121 µA cm(-2) and 0.541 V, respectively, at a light intensity of 100 mW cm(-2). Such a combination provides a promising method for the fabrication of self-driven devices for solar-energy storage.

Visible-light responsive photocatalytic fuel cell based on WO(3)/W photoanode and Cu(2)O/Cu photocathode for simultaneous wastewater treatment and electricity generation.

A visible-light driven photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) system comprised of WO(3)/W photoanode and Cu(2)O/Cu photocathode was established for organic compounds degradation with simultaneous electricity generation. The central idea for its operation is the mismatched Fermi levels between the two photoelectrodes. Under light illumination, the Fermi level of WO(3)/W photoanode is higher than that of Cu(2)O/Cu photocathode. An interior bias can be produced based on which the electrons of WO(3)/W photoanode can transfer from the external circuit to combine with the holes of Cu(2)O/Cu photocathode then generates the electricity. In this manner, the electron/hole pairs separations at two photoelectrodes are facilitated to release the holes of WO(3)/W photoanode and electrons of Cu(2)O/Cu photocathode. Organic compounds can be decomposed by the holes of WO(3)/W photoanode due to its high oxidation power (+3.1-3.2 V(NHE)). The results demonstrated that various model compounds including phenol, Rhodamine B, and Congo red can be successfully decomposed in this PFC system, with the degradation rate after 5 h operation were obtained to be 58%, 63%, and 74%, respectively. The consistent operation for continuous water treatment with the electricity generation at a long time scale was also confirmed from the result. The proposed PFC system provides a self-sustained and energy-saving way for simultaneous wastewater treatment and energy recovery.

Efficient electricity production and simultaneously wastewater treatment via a high-performance photocatalytic fuel cell.

A great quantity of wastewater were discharged into water body, causing serious environmental pollution. Meanwhile, the organic compounds in wastewater are important sources of energy. In this work, a high-performance short TiO(2) nanotube array (STNA) electrode was applied as photoanode material in a novel photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) system for electricity production and simultaneously wastewater treatment. The results of current work demonstrate that various model compounds as well as real wastewater samples can be used as substrates for the PFC system. As a representative of model compounds, the acetic acid solution produces the highest cell performance with short-circuit current density 1.42 mA cm(-2), open-circuit voltage 1.48 V and maximum power density output 0.67 mW cm(-2). The STNA photoanode reveals obviously enhanced cell performance compared with TiO(2) nanoparticulate film electrode or other long nanotubes electrode. Moreover, the photoanode material, electrolyte concentration, pH of the initial solution, and cathode material were found to be important factors influencing the system performance of PFC. Therefore, the proposed fuel cell system provides a novel way of energy conversion and effective disposal mode of organics and serves well as a promising technology for wastewater treatment.

Electrocatalytic oxidation behavior of guanosine at graphene, chitosan and Fe3O4 nanoparticles modified glassy carbon electrode and its determination.

A graphene, chitosan and Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles (nano-Fe(3)O(4)) modified glassy carbon electrode (graphene-chitosan/nano-Fe(3)O(4)/GCE) was fabricated. The modified electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscope and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The electrochemical oxidation behavior of guanosine was investigated in pH 7.0 phosphate buffer solution by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry. The experimental results indicated that the modified electrode exhibited an electrocatalytic and adsorptive activities towards the oxidation of guanosine. The transfer electron number (n), transfer proton number (m) and electrochemically effective surface area (A) were calculated. Under the optimized conditions, the oxidation peak current was proportional to guanosine concentration in the range of 2.0 x 10(-6) to 3.5 x 10(-4) mol L(-1) with the correlation coefficient of 0.9939 and the detection limit of 7.5 x 10(-7) mol L(-1) (S/N=3). Moreover, the modified electrode showed good ability to discriminate the electrochemical oxidation response of guanosine, guanine and adenosine. The proposed method was further applied to determine guanosine in spiked urine samples and traditional Chinese medicines with satisfactory results.

Sensitivity and selectivity determination of BPA in real water samples using PAMAM dendrimer and CoTe quantum dots modified glassy carbon electrode.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an environmental pollutant to disrupt endocrine system or cause cancer, thus the detection of BPA is very important. Herein, an amperometric sensor was fabricated based on immobilized CoTe quantum dots (CoTe QDs) and PAMAM dendrimer (PAMAM) onto glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface. The cyclic voltammogram of BPA on the sensor exhibited a well-defined anodic peak at 0.490V in 0.1M pH 8.0 PBS. The determination conditions were optimized and the kinetic parameters were calculated. The linear range was 1.3 x 10(-8) to 9.89 x 10(-6)M with the correlation coefficient of 0.9999. The limit of detection was estimated to be 1 x 10(-9)M. The current reached the steady-state current within about 5s. Furthermore, the fabricated sensor was successfully applied to determine BPA in real water samples.

A nitrite biosensor based on the immobilization of cytochrome c on multi-walled carbon nanotubes-PAMAM-chitosan nanocomposite modified glass carbon electrode.

A novel nitrite biosensor was successfully prepared via immobilizing Cytochrome c (Cyt c) onto the multi-walled carbon nanotubes-poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM)-chitosan (MWNT-PAMAM-Chit) nanocomposite modified glass carbon electrode (GCE). Ultraviolet and visible (UV-vis) absorption spectrum, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to examine the native conformation and bioactivity of the immobilized Cyt c, and the electrochemical properties of the modified electrodes, respectively. The results indicate that the immobilized Cyt c retained its native characters, and the MWNT-PAMAM-Chit nanocomposite is a good platform for the immobilization of Cyt c as well as an excellent promoter for the electron transfer between Cyt c and electrode. The high reactive Cyt c pi-cation, which can oxidize NO(2)(-) into NO(3)(-) in the solution, is generated at higher potential (>0.7 V) based on the further oxidation of Cyt c. The nitrite biosensor showed a fast response to nitrite (about 5 s) in two concentration intervals, one was from 0.1 to 29 microM, and the other from 29 to 254 microM. The low detection limit of 0.01 microM was obtained.