A study on tandem photoanode and photocathode for photocatalytic formaldehyde fuel cell

Sustainable degradation of pollutants, generation of electricity and hydrogen evolution via photocatalytic fuel cells: An Inclusive Review

Environmental pollution and energy crisis have recently become one of the major global concerns. Insincere discharge of massive amount of organic and inorganic wastes into the aqueous bodies causes serious impact on our environment. However, these organic substances are significant sources of carbon and energy that could be sustainably utilized rather than being discarded. Photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) is a smart and novel energy conversion device that has the ability to achieve dual benefits: degrading the organic contaminants and simultaneously generating electricity, thereby helping in environmental remediation. This article presents a detailed study of the recent advancements in the development of PFC systems and focuses on the fundamental working principles of PFCs. The degradation of various common organic and inorganic contaminants including dyes and antibiotics with simultaneous power generation and hydrogen evolution has been outlined. The impact of various operational factors on the PFC activity has also been briefly discussed. Moreover, it provides an overview of the design guidelines of the different PFC systems that has been developed recently. It also includes a mention of the materials employed for the construction of the photo electrodes and highlights the major limitations and relevant research scopes that are anticipated to be of interest in the days to come. The review is intended to serve as a handy resource for researchers and budding scientists opting to work in this area of PFC devices.

Photo-assisted Zn-air battery-driven self-powered aptasensor based on the 2D/2D Schottky heterojunction of cadmium-doped molybdenum disulfide and Ti3C2Tx nanosheets for the sensitive detection of penicillin G

A novel photocatalyzed Zn-air battery-driven (ZAB)-based aptasensor has been manufactured using the two dimensional (2D)/2D Schottky heterojunction as photocathode and Zn plate as photoanode. It was then employed to sensitively and selectively detect penicillin G (PG) in the complex environment. The 2D/2D Schottky heterojunction was established by the in situ growth of cadmium-doped molybdenum disulfide nanosheets (Cd-MoS₂ NSs) around Ti₃C₂T_x NSs (denoted as Cd-MoS₂@Ti₃C₂T_x) by using phosphomolybdic acid (PMo₁₂) as precursor, thioacetamide as sulfur source, and Cd(NO₃)₂ as a doping agent through the hydrothermal method. The gained Cd-MoS₂@Ti₃C₂T_x heterojunction possessed contact interface, hierarchical structure, and plenty of sulfur and oxygen vacancies, thus showing the enhanced separation ability of photocarriers and electron transfer. Due to the enhanced UV-vis light adsorption ability, high photoelectric conversion efficiency, and exposed catalytic active sites, the constructed photocatalyzed ZAB displayed a boosted output voltage of 1.43 V under UV-vis light irradiation. The developed ZAB-driven self-powered aptasensor demonstrated an ultralow detection limit of 0.06 fg mL^-1 within a PG concentration ranged from 1.0 fg mL^-1 to 0.1 ng mL^-1, as deduced from the power density-current curves, along with high specificity, good stability and promising reproducibility, as well as excellent regeneration ability and wide applicability. The present work provided an alternative analysis method for the sensitive analysis of antibiotics based on the portable photocatalyzed ZAB-driven self-powered aptasensor.

Synergy of photocatalysis and fuel cells: A chronological review on efficient designs, potential materials and emerging applications

The rising demand of energy and lack of clean water are two major concerns of modern world. Renewable energy sources are the only way out in order to provide energy in a sustainable manner for the ever-increasing demands of the society. A renewable energy source which can also provide clean water will be of immense interest and that is where Photocatalytic Fuel Cells (PFCs) exactly fit in. PFCs hold the ability to produce electric power with simultaneous photocatalytic degradation of pollutants on exposure to light. Different strategies, including conventional Photoelectrochemical cell design, have been technically upgraded to exploit the advantage of PFCs and to widen their applicability. Parallel to the research on design, researchers have put an immense effort into developing materials/composites for electrodes and their unique properties. The efficient strategies and potential materials have opened up a new horizon of applications for PFCs. Recent research reports reveal this persistently broadening arena which includes hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide generation, carbon dioxide and heavy metal reduction and even sensor applications. The review reported here consolidates all the aspects of various design strategies, materials and applications of PFCs. The review provides an overall understanding of PFC systems, which possess the potential to be a marvellous renewable source of energy with a handful of simultaneous applications. The review is a read to the scientific community and early researchers interested in working on PFC systems.

Synergetic Hydroxyl Radical Oxidation with Atomic Hydrogen Reduction Lowers the Organochlorine Conversion Barrier and Potentiates Effective Contaminant Mineralization

For effective treatment and reuse of wastewater, removal of organochlorines is an important consideration. Oxidation or reduction of these compounds by one-component free radicals is difficult because of the high-energy barrier. Theoretical calculations predict that redox synergy can significantly lower the energy barriers. Hence, we developed an energy-efficient dual photoelectrode photoelectrochemical system wherein the oxidized and reduced radicals coexist. Taking p-chloroaniline as an example, the atomic hydrogen first initiates nucleophilic hydrodechlorination to form a critical intermediate followed by the electrophilic oxidation of the hydroxyl radical; the process shows stable free-energy changes. Compared to oxidation alone, the reaction rate and mineralization in the redox synergy system were ∼4.5 and ∼2.1 times higher, respectively. Nitrogen was also completely removed via this system. The full life cycle assessment with power consumption as the boundary showed that the proposed system was sustainable and highly energy efficient, ensuring its application in organochlorine wastewater treatment.

Solar Energy Conversion and Storage Using a Photocatalytic Fuel Cell Combined with a Supercapacitor

This work studies the production of electricity by a photocatalytic fuel cell and its storage in a supercapacitor. We propose a simple construction, where a third electrode bearing activated carbon is added to the device to form a supercapacitor electrode in combination with the supporting electrolyte of the cell. The photocatalytic fuel cell is based on a CdS-sensitized mesoporous TiO2 photoanode and an air cathode bearing only nanoparticulate carbon as an oxygen reduction electrocatalyst.

A highly sustainable hydrothermal synthesized MnO2 as cathodic catalyst in solar photocatalytic fuel cell

A unidirectional flow solar photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) was successfully developed for the first time to offer alternative for electricity generation and simultaneous wastewater treatment. This study was focused on the synthesis of α-, δ- and β-MnO₂ by wet chemical hydrothermal method for application as the cathodic catalyst in PFC. The crystallographic evolution was performed by varying the ratios of KMnO₄ to MnSO₄. The mechanism of the PFC with the MnO₂/C as cathode was also discussed. Results showed that the catalytic activity of MnO₂/C cathode was mainly predominated by their crystallographic structures which included Mn-O bond strength and tunnel size, following order of α- > δ- > β-MnO₂/C. Interestingly, it was discovered that the specific surface areas (S_BET) of different crystal phases did not give an impact on the PFC performance. However, the P_max could be significantly influenced by the micropore surface area (S_micro) in the comparison among α-MnO₂. Furthermore, the morphological transformation carried out by altering the hydrothermal duration demonstrated that the nanowire α-M3(24 h)/C with 1:1 ratio of KMnO₄ and MnSO₄ yielded excellent PFC performance with a P_max of 2.8680 μW cm^-2 and the lowest R_int of 700 Ω.