High-Efficiency Wastewater Purification System Based on Coupled Photoelectric–Catalytic Action Provided by Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Abstract

It is of great importance to explore a creative route to improve the degradation efficiency of organic pollutants in wastewater. Herein, we construct a unique hybrid system by combining self-powered triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with carbon dots-TiO2 sheets doped three-dimensional graphene oxide photocatalyst (3DGA@CDs-TNs), which can significantly enhance the degradation efficiency of brilliant green (BG) and direct blue 5B (DB) owing to the powerful interaction of TENG and 3DGA@CDs-TNs photocatalyst. The power output of TENG can be applied for wastewater purification directly, which exhibits a self-powered electrocatalytic technology. Furthermore, the results also verify that TENG can replace conventional electric catalyst to remove pollutants effectively from wastewater without any consumption. Subsequently, the unstable fragments and the plausible removal pathways of the two pollutants are proposed. Our work sheds light on the development of efficient and sustainable TENG/photocatalyst system, opening up new opportunities and possibilities for comprehensive utilization of random energy.

Improving Wastewater Treatment by Triboelectric-Photo/Electric Coupling Effect

“…Shen et al reported a TENG based on a disc structure combined with photoelectric catalysis (Figure di). This self-powered hybrid system significantly improved the removal efficiency of brilliant green and direct blue 5B (Figure dii) . In addition, due to photoelectrical coupling, a polytetrafluoroethylene-Al-based TENG increased the degradation rate of MO by 49% in 120 min .…”

“…TENG-photo/electric coupling improves the separation of photoinduced electron–hole pairs and further increases the efficiency of the photocatalyst. Researchers have used TENG-photo/electric coupling applications in wastewater treatment to treat municipal wastewater (e.g., antibiotics) and industrial wastewater (e.g., dye). , Table presents various TENG-photo/electric coupling applications in wastewater treatment, which activate free radical species to enhance the oxidation of a wide range of contaminants and increase the extent of this enhancement under different conditions. This combination of mechanical and solar energy is inspiring for the design of environmentally friendly photoelectric catalysis systems for wastewater treatment.…”

“…The TENG-photo/electric coupling applied bias potential prevented the recombination of electrons and holes produced by photocatalysis, which improved the efficiency of photocatalytic oxidation. The coupling of TENGs and photo/electric catalysis includes anodic oxidation, electro-Fenton and electroassisted photocatalysis, and photoassisted electrocatalysis. , In contrast to adsorption, ion exchange and other technologies in traditional wastewater treatment, TENG-photo/electrical coupling is not selective for certain contaminants and reuses materials, which reduces the cost of treatment. , Particularly with regard to antibiotic contaminants, the free radicals produced by TENG-photo/electric coupling have strong oxidation potentials . The electricity generation by TENGs enhances photocatalytic oxidation to remove pollutants, making this technology feasible for broad applications.…”

High-performance piezoelectric nanogenerators featuring embedded organic nanodroplets for self-powered sensors

“…8,9 Therefore, there is a great demand for the development of selfpowered technologies with renewable, portable, and sustainable sources and intelligent manufacturing. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] As a good alternative, piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) with selfpowered operation have received growing attention, which is attributed to their ability to harvest energy under external mechanical stimulation from human motion or the surrounding environment. [17][18][19][20] Furthermore, additive manufacturing technologies with exibility and rapid prototyping capability have been successfully utilized for the fabrication of wearable PENGs in recent years, which can benet from their excellent ability to be rapidly molded with facility, scalability, and cost-effectivity to produce structures of any design or shape.…”

MOF-Like 3D Graphene-Based Catalytic Membrane Fabricated by One-Step Laser Scribing for Robust Water Purification and Green Energy Production

“…To resolve them, this has led to extensive research on contaminated water purification as well as hydrolysis of hydrogen production [ 1 – 5 ], which often refers to the advanced functional nanomaterials. Catalytic membrane has both filtration and catalytic properties, and is one of the potential materials for sewage treatment and hydrogen production [ 2 – 4 ]. Among them, material scientists have paid the much attention to the graphene oxide (GO) membranes because of their high structure stability, exceptional water permeation and molecular sieving properties [ 5 ].…”