Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Fuel Cell with an Ag-TiO2 Carbon Foam Anode for Simultaneous 4-Chlorophenol Degradation and Energy Recovery

Photocatalytic fuel cells (PFCs) are a sustainable technology with application in waste water treatment, in which energy is obtained from the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. However, the application of PFCs is limited by the photoanode, in particular its low efficiency for treating recalcitrant pollutants. In this study, a double chamber PFC reactor was constructed. Visible-light-driven Ag-TiO2 photocatalyst supported carbon foam was used as the anode and platinum was used as the cathode. 4-Chlorophenol (4-CP) was used as a model pollutant in the cation chamber to investigate the efficiency of pollutant degradation and power generation. The effects of the electrolyte type and solution pH on the 4-CP degradation and power production were investigated. The results showed that 32.6% of 4-CP was degraded by the PFC in 6 h. Na2SO4 was the optimum electrolyte and had the least side effects on the degradation of 4-CP when compared with NaCl, NaHCO3 and NaH2PO4. The optimum pH range was 6.4-8.4 when sodium sulfate was used as the electrolyte. The power density was approximately 36.0 mW/m(2) under the above experimental conditions.