Functional TiO2 composite carbon fibers for electro-catalytic degradation of water pollutants

• Main Authors: Jhen-Cih Wu, 吳偵慈
• Other Authors: 侯嘉洪
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/5abg5g

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 環境工程學研究所 === 107 === Electrocatalysis is one of the promising electrochemical processes, which can degrade water pollutants such as dyes, personal care and pharmaceutical products (PPCPs) and other emerging contaminants into CO2 , H2O or biodegradable organic ones. The electrocatalytic performance is mainly determined by the anodic material, which governing the production of strong reactive oxygen species (‧OH and H2O2). TiO2 has many advantages, such as low cost, good chemical compatibility , long term stability. However, its low electrical conductivity may result in restrictions on the use of electrocatalyst. As the anodic material, TiO2 functional electrode can be produced by the integration of TiO2 nanoparticles with an appropriate support material. The main objective of this study is to prepare a novel electrocatalytic electrode by decorating TiO2 nanoparticles onto electrospun carbon fibers(TiO2/CF) for degradation of water pollutants. Firstly, we dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles in polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solution to develop a composite of TiO2 and electrospun fibers via electrospinning process Then, the composite were manufactured by carbonization at 400。C 800。C and 1000。C. The results of this study indicate that the TiO2 concentration, carbonization temperature and applied voltage have a significant effect on the characteristics of electrode and the performance of electrocatalysis. As the carbonization temperature increased, the conductivity of electrode was drastically enhanced and the major crystal structure of TiO2 transformed to rutile phase, which may conduce to the enhancement of electrocatalytic performance. As evidenced, hydroxyl radical can be produced by TiO2/CF carbonized at 1000。C for the electrocatalytic degradation of crystal violet at voltage of 1 V. In this case, a high removal efficiency of 85% was achieved. Therefore, the TiO2 embedded electrocatalytic carbon fibers electrode shows superior electrocatalytic activity that can be driven at a relatively lower voltage. Note that we established a photovoltaic-driven electrocatalytic degradation system for technology demonstration. By converting solar energy into electric energy, the PV-powered electrocatalytic degradation system show a high potential for the degradation of water pollutants.