Electrostatic boosting of ionic dye pollutant removal from aquatic environment using a single electrode photoreactor

Abstract A green advanced oxidation (AO) strategy to destroy dye pollutants and remove them from aquatic environments is utilize sunlight employ thin-film semiconducting photo-reactors. In this light-driving AO method, besides the type of semiconductor material, attention electrostatic interactions between electrode great importance. paper, a couple nanostructured, narrow-bandgap, photoelectrodes, i.e., hematite (n-type) pyrite (p-type) were fabricated electrochemically employed for elimination two cationic (malachite green) anionic (methyl orange) dyes inside single-electrode photoreactor. It was shown that without applying faradic potential bias consuming electricity or changing pH medium, decolorization ability photoelectrodes can be substantially boosted just by their connection an (non-faradic) source. Regardless photoelectrode, in case dye, application negative polarity positive remarkably promoted reactor activity. These observations discussed detail through attractive/repulsive forces ionic charged finally mechanistic perspective put forward photo-electrostatic removal process.