Issue 17, 2014

Optofluidics based micro-photocatalytic fuel cell for efficient wastewater treatment and electricity generation

Abstract

In this work, an optofluidics based micro-photocatalytic fuel cell with a membrane-free and air-breathing mode was proposed to greatly enhance the cell performance. The incorporation of the optofluidic technology into a photocatalytic fuel cell not only enlarges the specific illumination and reaction area but also enhances the photon and mass transfer, which eventually boosts the photocatalytic reaction rate. Our results show that this new photocatalytic fuel cell yields a much higher performance in converting organics into electricity. A maximum power density of 0.58 mW cm−2 was achieved. The degradation performance of this new optofluidic micro-photocatalytic fuel cell was also evaluated and the maximum degradation efficiency reached 83.9%. In short, the optofluidic micro-photocatalytic fuel cell developed in this work shows promising potential for simultaneously degrading organic pollutants and generating electricity.

Graphical abstract: Optofluidics based micro-photocatalytic fuel cell for efficient wastewater treatment and electricity generation

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 May 2014
Accepted
09 Jun 2014
First published
09 Jun 2014

Lab Chip, 2014,14, 3368-3375

Optofluidics based micro-photocatalytic fuel cell for efficient wastewater treatment and electricity generation

L. Li, G. Wang, R. Chen, X. Zhu, H. Wang, Q. Liao and Y. Yu, Lab Chip, 2014, 14, 3368 DOI: 10.1039/C4LC00595C

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