Microwave-assisted sol-gel synthesis of an Au-TiO2 photoanode for the advanced oxidation of paracetamol as model pharmaceutical pollutant

An Au-TiO2 photoanode on carbon cloth has been synthesized by microwave-assisted sol-gel method to treat paracetamol solutions at pH 3.0 by photocatalysis (PC), electro-oxidation (EO), photoelectrocatalysis with UVA light (PEC), solar PEC (SPEC) and hybrid methods with photoelectro-Fenton under UVA...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Hernández, Rafael, Olvera-Rodríguez, Isidoro, Guzmán, Carlos, Medel, Alejandro, Escobar-Alarcón, Luis, Brillas, Enric, Sirés Sadornil, Ignacio, Esquivel Escalante, Karen
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/152984
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/152984
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Fotocatàlisi
Oxidació electroquímica
Medicaments
Photocatalysis
Electrolytic oxidation
Drugs
Descripción
Sumario:An Au-TiO2 photoanode on carbon cloth has been synthesized by microwave-assisted sol-gel method to treat paracetamol solutions at pH 3.0 by photocatalysis (PC), electro-oxidation (EO), photoelectrocatalysis with UVA light (PEC), solar PEC (SPEC) and hybrid methods with photoelectro-Fenton under UVA (PEC+PEF) and sunlight (SPEC+SPEF) irradiation at constant anodic potential (Ean). The photoanode has been characterized by XRD, Raman spectroscopy, HRTEM and SEM-EDS. The counter electrode was a 316L stainless steel plate, which was replaced by an air-diffusion electrode for H2O2 generation in hybrid treatments. The most powerful process was SPEC+SPEF, yielding total paracetamol removal in less than 30 min and 24% mineralization after 180 min, at Ean = +0.82 V. The paracetamol decay followed a pseudo-first-order kinetics in PEC. A lower rate constant was obtained upon increase of pharmaceutical concentration, showing good linear fit using a Langmuir-Hinshelwood model.