Affiliations 

  • 1 Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Key Laboratory of Membrane Separation of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China; Key Laboratory of Membrane Separation of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China. Electronic address: liujiadong@xauat.edu.cn
  • 3 Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Mining, Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering, University of Johannesburg, P. O. Box 17011, Doornfontein 2028, South Africa; Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; Aculty of Science and Technology, School of Applied Physics, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia; International Research Centre of Nanotechnology for Himalayan Sustainability (IRCNHS), Shoolini University, Solan 173212, Himachal Pradesh, India
Sci Total Environ, 2022 Mar 20;813:152397.
PMID: 34923007 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152397

Abstract

The generation of free radicals is the key to the photocatalytic efficiency. In this study, the degradation mechanism of photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) membrane could be adequately explained by exploring the generation pathway of different free radicals. The PEC membrane was prepared by gas phase polymerization of poly (3, 4-ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT) on non-woven fabric, industrial filter cloth, ceramic membrane and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane, respectively. Three-dimensional fluorescence test showed that the optimal degradation of mixed or monomer contamination (bovine serum protein, sodium humate, and sodium alginate) was achieved by modified ceramic membrane under PEC condition. As for self-cleaning experiment, the membrane resistance decreased 65.7% when the reaction conditions changed from dark to PEC for 30 min. Combined with the characterization results, PEDOT as photocapacitance extended electron lifetime and promoted free radical generation. This system was mainly dependent on superoxide free radicals (0.01 mmol/L) and singlet oxygen (0.10 mmol/L), which came from energy and electron transfer. Oxygen vacancy could adsorb oxygen to produce superoxide radicals, which was further oxidized to singlet oxygen. In addition, the π-electron conjugated system of PEDOT accelerated the hole transfer and the separation of electrons and holes. Also, this study provided a new view of reactive oxygen species generation mechanism from PEDOT modified membrane.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.