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STEP Wastewater Treatment: A Solar Thermal Electrochemical Process for Pollutant Oxidation
Author(s) -
Wang Baohui,
Wu Hongjun,
Zhang Guoxue,
Licht Stuart
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201200305
Subject(s) - phenol , electrochemistry , chemistry , overpotential , chemical engineering , pollutant , solar energy , wastewater , materials science , organic chemistry , environmental engineering , electrode , environmental science , ecology , engineering , biology
A solar thermal electrochemical production (STEP) pathway was established to utilize solar energy to drive useful chemical processes. In this paper, we use experimental chemistry for efficient STEP wastewater treatment, and suggest a theory based on the decreasing stability of organic pollutants (hydrocarbon oxidation potentials) with increasing temperature. Exemplified by the solar thermal electrochemical oxidation of phenol, the fundamental model and experimental system components of this process outline a general method for the oxidation of environmentally stable organic pollutants into carbon dioxide, which is easily removed. Using thermodynamic calculations we show a sharply decreasing phenol oxidation potential with increasing temperature. The experimental results demonstrate that this increased temperature can be supplied by solar thermal heating. In combination this drives electrochemical phenol removal with enhanced oxidation efficiency through (i) a thermodynamically driven decrease in the energy needed to fuel the process and (ii) improved kinetics to sustain high rates of phenol oxidation at low electrochemical overpotential. The STEP wastewater treatment process is synergistic in that it is performed with higher efficiency than either electrochemical or photovoltaic conversion process acting alone. STEP is a green, efficient, safe, and sustainable process for organic wastewater treatment driven solely by solar energy.