Efficient photoelectrocatalytic degradation of azo-dyes over polypyrrole/titanium oxide/reduced graphene oxide electrodes under visible light: Performance evaluation and mechanism insights

Herein, polypyrrole/titanium oxide/reduced graphene oxide (PTi/r-GO) electrodes were prepared and successfully applied for the photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) degradation of methyl orange (MO) under visible light. Polypyrrole-TiO2 composites rich in p-n heterojunctions were first prepared, then modified with r-GO to improve the electrical conductivity and facilitate charge separation under visible light irradiation. The obtained PTi/r-GO composites were then deposited onto a titanium mesh, which served as the working electrode in PEC experiments. A MO removal efficiency of 93% was achieved in 50 min using PTi/r-GO electrode under PEC conditions (Xe lamp, lambda > 420 nm, bias of 0.6 V, 0.1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte), which was far higher than MO removal efficiencies under electrocatalytic oxidation (22%) or photocatalytic oxidation (47%) conditions. This confirmed that excellent activity of the PTi/r-GO electrode under PEC conditions was due to a combination of electrochemical and photocatalytic oxidation processes (involving center dot OH and center dot O-2(-) generation). Further, PTi/r-GO was very stable under the applied PEC conditions, with the MO removal efficiency remaining >90% after five cycles. PEC degradation pathways for MO on PTi/r-GO were explored, with a number of key intermediates in the MO mineralization process identified. Results demonstrate that PEC electrodes combining p-type polypyrrole, n-type TiO2 and rGO are very effective in the treatment of hazardous organic compounds in wastewater.

Automated summary

The study prepared polypyrrole/titanium oxide/reduced graphene oxide (PTi/r-GO) electrodes for the photoelectrocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) under visible light, achieving a high removal efficiency of 93% in 50 minutes and demonstrating excellent activity and stability in the treatment of hazardous organic compounds in wastewater. The combination of electrochemical and photocatalytic oxidation processes was found to be the key to the superior performance of the PTi/r-GO electrode under PEC conditions.