Turning carbon dioxide into fuel concomitantly to the photoanode-driven process of organic pollutant degradation by photoelectrocatalysis

Author(s)

de Brito, Juliana Ferreira ^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]} ; Lima Perini, Joao Angelo ^[5] ; Perathoner, Siglinda ^{[1, 2, 3, 4]} ; Boldrin Zanoni, Maria Valnice ^[5]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Messina, ERIC Aisbl, Viale F Stagno dAlcontres 31, I-98166 Messina - Italy

^[2] INSTM, CASPE, Viale F Stagno dAlcontres 31, I-98166 Messina - Italy

^[3] Dept ChiBioFarAm, Viale F Stagno dAlcontres 31, I-98166 Messina - Italy

^[4] Dept MIFT, Viale F Stagno dAlcontres 31, I-98166 Messina - Italy

^[5] Univ Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Inst Quim, Av Prof Francisco Degni 55, BR-14800060 Araraquara, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Electrochimica Acta; v. 306, p. 277-284, MAY 20 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

TiO2 nanotubes (TiO(2)Nt) were modified with zirconium oxide and used as photoanode-driven to oxidize benzyl alcohol concomitantly to the reduction of carbon dioxide using a gas diffusion layer modified with cuprous oxide (GDL-Cu2O) as cathode. ZrO2 was deposited by a simple wet chemical method onto TiO(2)Nt and presented higher photocurrents when irradiated by UV-Vis irradiation. Under optimized conditions, 0.1 mol L-1 Na2SO4 pH 7 and 0.1 mol L-1 KHCO3 pH 7 supporting electrolytes in the anodic and cathodic compartments, respectively, the degradation of benzyl alcohol reached 41% at the TiO(2)Nt electrode and 68% at TiO(2)Nt-ZrO2 under UV-Vis irradiation and bias potential of 1.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Concomitantly, the electrons driven to the cathode side saturated with CO2 promoted generation of around 3.8 mmol L-1 of methanol and 0.96 mmol L-1 of ethanol under TiO(2)Nt-ZrO2. So, our finding shows for the first time the performance of a hybrid reactor in which is possible to promote photooxidation of an organic compound concomitantly to CO2 reduction to alcohol using a simple photoanode-driven and a cathode separated by a proton exchange membrane. (c) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/18109-4 - Contribution of Nanostructured Materials in Electroanalysis of pharmaceuticals and dyes, in the oxidation and reduction photoeletrocatalytic process of Inorganic and Organic Pollutants and Water Disinfection.
• Grantee: Maria Valnice Boldrin
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 14/50945-4 - INCT 2014: National Institute for Alternative Technologies of Detection, Toxicological Evaluation and Removal of Micropollutants and Radioactivies
• Grantee: Maria Valnice Boldrin
• Support type: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/25343-8 - Simultaneous Oxidation of Organic Compounds in Wastewater Petroleum and Reduction of Dissolved CO2 by Photoelectrocatalysis
• Grantee: Juliana Ferreira de Brito
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 16/07895-1 - CO2 reduction in gas phase on carbon based GDL with different non-noble metal catalysts applying a specific photoelectrocatalysis designed reactor
• Grantee: Juliana Ferreira de Brito
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 16/18057-7 - CO2 reduction aiming to generate value-added compounds by photocatalysis/photoelectrocatalysis using ionic liquid in a pressurized reactor
• Grantee: João Angelo de Lima Perini
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate