Evaluation of a novel continuous baffled photo-reactor for tetracycline degradation and simultaneous electricity production in photocatalytic fuel cell

Abstract

Photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) systems can be a new generation of energy production by simultaneously producing electricity and removing organic pollutants from aqueous solutions. A baffling photoreactor is developed for application in a PFC, and the continuous system consists of a light-responsive photoanode (ZnO/Bi2MoO6/MIL-101; ZnO/Bi2MoO6; ZnO) and a photocathode (Cu/CuO/Cu2O). A response surface method (RSM) is presented to characterize the process factors (pH, immobilized catalyst dosage (mg/cm2), and tetracycline concentration (ppm)) on the performance of a reactor designed to optimize degradation efficiency and maximum power generation. The optimal conditions are determined at pH = 7, Catalyst dosage = 0.87 mg/cm2, and tetracycline concentration = 80 ppm. In optimal conditions, other parameters for degradation efficiency (88.8%), open circuit voltage (1.03 V), short circuit current (2.5 mA/cm2), and maximum power generation (0.87 mW/cm2) are obtained. The performance of different photoanodes by linear sweep voltammetry shows a current density of 2.5 mA/cm2 for ZnO/Bi2MoO6/MIL-101, which is 7.8 and 1.8 times higher than ZnO and ZnO/Bi2MoO6 photoanodes, respectively. The flow regime is determined by residence time distribution (RTD) in the novel reactor with the experimental data of 6 tanks-in-series. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd