Efficient photoelectrocatalytic performance of beta-cyclodextrin/graphene composite and effect of Cl− in water: degradation for bromophenol blue as a case study

Qiao Cong; Miao Ren; Tingting Zhang; Fangyuan Cheng; Jiao Qu

doi:10.1039/D1RA04533D

Efficient photoelectrocatalytic performance of beta-cyclodextrin/graphene composite and effect of Cl⁻ in water: degradation for bromophenol blue as a case study†

Qiao Cong,^a Miao Ren,^b Tingting Zhang,^b Fangyuan Cheng^b and Jiao Qu

*^b

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu University, Research Field: Environmental Chemistry, Changchun 130118, China
E-mail: congqiao@jlju.edu.cn

^b School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Research Field: Environmental Chemistry, No. 2555 Jingyue Street, Changchun 130117, China
E-mail: renm677@nenu.edu.cn, zhangtt671@nenu.edu.cn, Chengfy310@nenu.edu.cn, quj100@nenu.edu.cn
Fax: +86 431 89165610
Tel: +86 431 89165617

Abstract

Photoelectrocatalytic technology has proven to be an efficient way of degrading organic contaminants, including dyes. Graphene (GR) -based catalysts have been frequently used in photoelectrocatalysis, due to their excellent catalytic performances. In this work, the GR/beta-cyclodextrin (GR/β-CD) composite was prepared and used for a widely used triphenylmethane dye (bromophenol blue, BPB) photoelectrocatalytic degradation. The results indicated that the degradation of the prepared GR/β-CD composite for BPB was effective with the combination of external bias voltage and simulated sunlight irradiation. Under optimum conditions, the BPB (10 mg L⁻¹) was completely eliminated by GR/β-CD composite within 120 min. ˙O₂⁻ played a prominent role in the BPB photoelectrocatalytic degradation. The time required for the removal of BPB in water to reach 100% can be reduced to 30 min with the presence of Cl⁻, owing to the generation of ˙Cl. Moreover, the toxicity of the degraded system with Cl⁻, predicted by the QSAR (Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship) model in ECOSAR (Ecological Structure–Activity Relationships) program, was weaker than that without Cl⁻. The prepared GR/β-CD composite revealed great advantages in photoelectrocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants due to its metal-free, low cost, simplicity, and efficient performance. This work provided new insight into the efficient and safe degradation of organic pollutants in wastewaters.

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D1RA04533D
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 11 Jun 2021
Accepted: 02 Sep 2021
First published: 06 Sep 2021
This article is Open Access

Download Citation

RSC Adv., 2021,11, 29896-29905

Permissions

Request permissions

Efficient photoelectrocatalytic performance of beta-cyclodextrin/graphene composite and effect of Cl⁻ in water: degradation for bromophenol blue as a case study

Q. Cong, M. Ren, T. Zhang, F. Cheng and J. Qu, RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 29896 DOI: 10.1039/D1RA04533D

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

RSC Advances