Ion exchange membrane optimized light-driven photoelectrochemical unit for efficiency simultaneous organic degradation and metal recovery from the mine wastewater

Yinjie Zhang; Chang You; Meng Ren; Meng Liu; Xin Xu; Yu Zhang; Aijun Lin; Yuansheng Pei; Donghai Yuan; Jun Cui

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128352

Ion exchange membrane optimized light-driven photoelectrochemical unit for efficiency simultaneous organic degradation and metal recovery from the mine wastewater

J Hazard Mater. 2022 May 5:429:128352. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128352. Epub 2022 Jan 29.

Authors

Yinjie Zhang¹, Chang You², Meng Ren¹, Meng Liu¹, Xin Xu¹, Yu Zhang³, Aijun Lin¹, Yuansheng Pei³, Donghai Yuan⁴, Jun Cui⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China.
² School of Urban Economics and Public Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, PR China.
³ The Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Urban Stormwater System and Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, PR China. Electronic address: yuandonghai@bucea.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, PR China. Electronic address: cuijun@buct.edu.cn.

PMID: 35121299
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128352

Abstract

Resource recovery from wastewater is a promising and challenging topic. Herein, a well-designed ion exchange membrane optimized light-driven photoelectrochemical unit (MPECS) was constructed to reduce the effect of inorganic salt on the photoelectrochemical performance of the photoanode. TiO₂/carbon dots/WO₃ (TCDW) photoanode with the indirect Z-scheme heterojunction structure was successfully fabricated, achieving a strong light harvest performance (10.82%) and a high photocurrent density (5.39 mA/cm²). For the simulated solution (0.01 M phenol and 0.01 M CuSO₄), the phenol degradation and Cu recovery efficiencies reached 99.67% and 62.20% in 60 min, respectively, and the corresponding photoelectric conversion efficiency (PECE) reached 4.64% in the TCDW/Pt-based MPECS. For the actual Cu-laden mine wastewater, over 98% of inorganic salt was removed. Compared to the traditional photoelectrochemical system (PECS), the COD removal and Cu recovery efficiencies were further improved by 23.77% and 49.41% in MPECS, respectively. The results exhibited a promising light-driven mine wastewater treatment technology.

Keywords: Cu recovery; Inorganic salt; Membrane optimized photoelectrochemical unit; Photoelectric conversion efficiency.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Carbon
Ion Exchange
Metals
Titanium*
Wastewater*

Substances

Metals
Waste Water
Carbon
Titanium