Bifunctional Ni@NiO catalyst supported on loofah sponge-derived carbon for electrocatalytic air oxidation of biorefractory pollutant in a coupling system

Oxygen (O₂) in the air is a green oxidant, and utilization of air for pollutant removal is highly desired. Herein, we report the preparation and utilization of a novel biomass-based three-dimensional (3D) Ni@NiO/carbon composite for the electro-activation of O₂ under room condition. The carbon-coated Ni@NiO nanoparticles are fabricated on a hierarchical 3D porous loofah sponge-derived carbon (LSC) support as the bifunctional catalyst for the activation of O₂ via both the electro-oxidation and electro-reduction reactions. An electrocatalytic air oxidation coupling system is constructed with the Ni@NiO/LSC shell-core electrodes for pollutant degradation. A variety of organic pollutants, including pharmaceutics and personal care products (PPCPs), dyes, phenolic compounds, and real waters are mineralized by more than 60% with significantly enhanced biodegradability. Notably, the coupling system obtains high mineralization efficiency of 70.2 ± 1.9% on landfill leachate with significant biodegradability enhancement. The specific energy consumptions of the coupling system are only 6.8 ± 0.7 to 60.2 ± 3.6 kWh kg-TOC^-1 in mineralizing different pollutants. The hollow structure of the LSC fibers endows the loaded Ni@NiO with superior intrinsic catalytic activity, which is associated with low reaction resistance and facile electron transfer. The Ni@NiO on LSC presents an electrocatalytic wet air oxidation (ECWAO) catalytic activity higher by 35.8% and cathodic air oxidation (CAO) catalytic activity higher by 22.7% as compared to that loaded on commercial graphite felt.