Wireless Photoelectrochemical Strategy Driven by Nanobipolar Electrodes for Water Remediation

Thisstrategy of photoelectrochemical-driven semiconductingnanoparticles provides a solution to the intrinsically critical challengesof current photochemical technology through forming numerous nanobipolarelectrodes. The separation of photogenerated charges is vital forphotocatalysis.Here, we report a wireless photoelectrochemical strategy for efficientcharge separation on an optoelectronic synergy-driven nanoparticulatesemiconductor. Using g-C3N4/Fe-TiO2 as model semiconductor nanoparticles, an advanced oxidationprocess (AOP) for water remediation was established with the activityand O-2 (& BULL;-) photogeneration quantumefficiency being significantly improved (i.e., 9.7 times comparedto conventional photoelectrocatalysis and 5.9 times that of photocatalysis,respectively). More importantly, this strategy has a wide range ofapplications for the removal of different refractory organic pollutantswith a strong tolerance for a supporting electrolyte. The extraordinarycatalytic performance was attributed to a synergistic effect betweenphotochemistry and electrochemistry on the particle surface, wherenumerous nanobipolar electrodes were generated under an electric fieldto trigger the reduction of electrogenerated O-2 to formreactive oxygen species. This work provides a promising AOP strategyof a photoelectrochemical-driven nanoparticulate semiconductor forchallenging water remediation.