In situ organic Fenton-like catalysis triggered by anodic polymeric intermediates for electrochemical water purification.

Abstract

Organic Fenton-like catalysis has been recently developed for water purification, but redox-active compounds have to be ex situ added as oxidant activators, causing secondary pollution problem. Electrochemical oxidation is widely used for pollutant degradation, but suffers from severe electrode fouling caused by high-resistance polymeric intermediates. Herein, we develop an in situ organic Fenton-like catalysis by using the redox-active polymeric intermediates, e.g., benzoquinone, hydroquinone, and quinhydrone, generated in electrochemical pollutant oxidation as H₂O₂ activators. By taking phenol as a target pollutant, we demonstrate that the in situ organic Fenton-like catalysis not only improves pollutant degradation, but also refreshes working electrode with a better catalytic stability. Both ¹O₂ nonradical and ·OH radical are generated in the anodic phenol conversion in the in situ organic Fenton-like catalysis. Our findings might provide a new opportunity to develop a simple, efficient, and cost-effective strategy for electrochemical water purification.