Palladium nanocubes-mediated Fenton catalysis combined with chloride ion-amplified electro-driven catalysis for dye degradation

Electrochemical technology is frequently used to treat industrial dye wastewater. However, its degradation efficiency is restricted by pH, and the low current efficiency and high energy consumption limit its broader application. Based on this, we constructed an innovative electro-driven catalytic system by integrating nanotechnology with electric current. This system operates without pH constraints, has low energy consumption, and allows for the recycle and reuse of both electrodes and catalysts. Firstly, we synthesized palladium (Pd) cubes via a solvothermal method, and characterized their morphology, structural composition, and crystalline properties using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and other methods. The prepared Pd cubes possessed dual catalytic properties of electro-driven catalysis and Fenton catalysis, achieving a synergistic degradation effect under an electric field. Subsequently, the study explored how catalysts dosage, H2O2 concentration, pH and Cl− concentration affect the catalytic rate. The optimized system was able to degrade 99.17 % of MB within 1 h and was effective against various organic pollutants. After five cycles of reuse, the recovered catalysts maintained over 90 % degradation efficiency in decomposing MB. This process realizes efficient degradation with a low concentration of catalysts, offering a novel approach for nanotechnology in wastewater treatment under electro-driven conditions.