Efficient Electrochemical Oxidation of Chloramphenicol by Novel Reduced TiO2 Nanotube Array Anodes: Kinetics, Reaction Parameters, Degradation Pathway and Biotoxicity Forecast

Abstract

The key component of electrochemical advanced oxidation technology are high-efficiency anodes, and highly efficient and simple-to-prepare materials have generated a lot of interest. In this study, novel self-supported Ti3+-doped titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (R-TNTs) anodes were successfully prepared by a two-step anodic oxidation and straightforward electrochemical reduction technique. The electrochemical reduction self-doping treatment produced more Ti3+ sites with stronger absorption in the UV-vis region, a band gap reduction from 2.86 to 2.48 ev, and a significant increase in electron transport rate. The electrochemical degradation effect of R-TNTs electrode on chloramphenicol (CAP) simulated wastewater was investigated. At pH = 5, current density of 8 mA cm−2, electrolyte concentration of 0.1 M sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), initial CAP concentration of 10 mg L−1, CAP degradation efficiency exceeded 95% after 40 min. In addition, molecular probe experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) tests revealed that the active species were mainly •OH and SO4−, among which •OH played a major role. The CAP degradation intermediates were discovered using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS), and three possible degradation mechanisms were postulated. In cycling experiments, the R-TNTs anode demonstrated good stability. The R-TNTs prepared in this paper were an anode electrocatalytic material with high catalytic activity and stability, which could provide a new approach for the preparation of electrochemical anode materials for difficult-to-degrade organic compounds.