Efficient photodegradation of polystyrene microplastics integrated with hydrogen evolution: Uncovering degradation pathways
Jiehong He,
Lanfang Han,
Weiwei Ma,
Liying Chen,
Chuanxin Ma,
Chao Xu,
Zhifeng Yang
Affiliations
Jiehong He
Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
Lanfang Han
Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China; Corresponding author
Weiwei Ma
Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Liying Chen
Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Chuanxin Ma
Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
Chao Xu
Research Center for Eco-Environmental Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China
Zhifeng Yang
Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
Summary: Photocatalytic microplastics (MPs) conversion into valuable products is a promising approach to alleviate MPs pollution in aquatic environments. Herein, we developed an amorphous alloy/photocatalyst composite (FeB/TiO2) that can successfully convert polystyrene (PS) MPs to clean H2 fuel and valuable organic compounds (92.3% particle size reduction of PS-MPs and 103.5 μmol H2 production in 12 h). FeB effectively enhanced the light-absorption and carrier separation of TiO2, thereby promoting more reactive oxygen species generation (especially ‧OH) and combination of photoelectrons with protons. The main products (e.g., benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, etc.) were identified. Additionally, the dominant PS-MPs photoconversion pathway was elucidated based on density functional theory calculations, by which the significant role of ‧OH was demonstrated in combination with radical quenching data. This study provides a prospective approach to mitigate MPs pollution in aquatic environments and reveals the synergistic mechanism governing the photocatalytic conversion of MPs and generation of H2 fuel.
