High-Efficiency Wastewater Purification System Based on Coupled Photoelectric–Catalytic Action Provided by Triboelectric Nanogenerator

• Main Authors: Shen Shen, Jiajia Fu, Jia Yi, Liyun Ma, Feifan Sheng, Chengyu Li, Tingting Wang, Chuan Ning, Hongbo Wang, Kai Dong, Zhong Lin Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2021-09-01
• Series: Nano-Micro Letters
• Subjects: Triboelectric nanogenerators; Self-powered; 3DGA@CDs-TNs photocatalyst; Hybrid system; Wastewater purification
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-021-00695-3

Abstract It is of great importance to explore a creative route to improve the degradation efficiency of organic pollutants in wastewater. Herein, we construct a unique hybrid system by combining self-powered triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with carbon dots-TiO2 sheets doped three-dimensional graphene oxide photocatalyst (3DGA@CDs-TNs), which can significantly enhance the degradation efficiency of brilliant green (BG) and direct blue 5B (DB) owing to the powerful interaction of TENG and 3DGA@CDs-TNs photocatalyst. The power output of TENG can be applied for wastewater purification directly, which exhibits a self-powered electrocatalytic technology. Furthermore, the results also verify that TENG can replace conventional electric catalyst to remove pollutants effectively from wastewater without any consumption. Subsequently, the unstable fragments and the plausible removal pathways of the two pollutants are proposed. Our work sheds light on the development of efficient and sustainable TENG/photocatalyst system, opening up new opportunities and possibilities for comprehensive utilization of random energy.