Photocatalytic microreactors for water purification: Selective control of oxidation pathways

Ning Wang, Ngai Yui Chan, Chap Hang To, Furui Tan, Xuming Zhang

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceedingConference article published in proceeding or bookAcademic researchpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the different reaction pathways that play major roles in the process of photocatalytic degradation, and presents a novel microfluidic photoelectrocatalytic reactor for selective control of them. This is accomplished by applying positive or negative bias potential to the photocatalytic reaction chamber and to select either the hole-driven or electron-driven oxidation pathway. The experimental results show that the negative bias exhibits higher performance in degrading the model chemical of methylene blue. Such selective control brings several important benefits. It provides another degree of freedom for photocatalysis, and enables detailed kinetic study on the reaction mechanisms. And, the bias eliminates the electron/hole recombination, which is one of the fundamental limits in conventional photocatalytic systems. In additional, the experiment shows that the bias produces a synergetic effect of electrocatalysis and photocatalysis and significantly enhances the degradation efficiency. The photoelectrocatalytic microreactor shows high stability and may be scaled up for high-performance water purification.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication8th Annual IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, IEEE NEMS 2013
Pages368-371
Number of pages4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Sept 2013
Event8th Annual IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, IEEE NEMS 2013 - Suzhou, China
Duration: 7 Apr 201310 Apr 2013

Conference

Conference8th Annual IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, IEEE NEMS 2013
Country/TerritoryChina
CitySuzhou
Period7/04/1310/04/13

Keywords

  • Microfluidics
  • photocatalysis
  • photoelectrocatalysis
  • water purification

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)
  • Biotechnology

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