A sustainable activated carbon fiber / TiO < sub > 2 < /sub > cathode for the photoelectro-Fenton treatment of pharmaceutical pollutant enalapril

Chemosphere. 2024 Feb 20:141492. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.141492. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTIn this work, a TiO2-decorated electrode was fabricated by dip coating activated carbon fibers (ACF) with TiO2, which were then used as a cathode for the photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) treatment of the pharmaceutical enalapril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor that has been detected in several waterways. The TiO2 coating was found to principally improve the electrocatalytic properties of ACF for H2O2 production via the 2-e- O2 reduction, in turn increasing enalapril degradation by PEF. The effect of the current density on the mineralization of enalapril was evaluated and the highest TOC removal yield (80.5% in 3 h) was obtained at 8.33 mA cm-2, in the presence of 0.5 mmol L-1 of Fe2+ catalyst. Under those conditions, enalapril was totally removed within the first 10 min of treatment with a rate constant k = 0.472 min-1. In contrast, uncoated ACF only achieved 60% of TOC removal in 3 h at 8.33 mA cm-2. A degradation pathway for enalapril mineralization is proposed, based on the degradation by-products identified during treatment. Overall, the results demonstrate the promises of TiO2 cathodes for PEF, a strategy that has often been overlooked in favor of photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) based on TiO2-modified photoanodes.PMID:38387665 | DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.141492

Source: Chemosphere - February 22, 2024 Category: Chemistry Authors: Hugo Olvera-Vargas Suthan Selvam Rishikesh Veer Orlando Garc ía-Rodríguez Srikanth Mutnuri Olivier Lefebvre Source Type: research