Drastic enhancement by in situ CNTs growth of carbon felt activity toward the electrodegradation of an azo dye

• Published in: Diamond and related materials 2024-10, Vol.148, p.111491, Article 111491
• Main Authors: Zghal, Sabrine, Jedidi, Ilyes, Cretin, Marc, Cerneaux, Sophie, Abdelmouleh, Makki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon felt; Carbon nanotubes; Electro-Fenton process; Organic dyes; Wastewater treatment
• ISSN: 0925-9635
• DOI: 10.1016/j.diamond.2024.111491

A new composite material has been developed for the electro-Fenton process to remove Acid Orange 7 (AO7), an azo dye pollutant, from wastewater. This material features the in situ growth of carbon nanotubes (CNT) at the interface of carbon felt/phenolic resin (CF/PR). Different CF/PR composite materials were manufactured by impregnation of an alcoholic phenolic resin/ferrocene solution on a carbon felt that was treated by acidic oxidation or not. The carbonization step under N2 atmosphere is necessary for the growth of the CNTs at the interface of the CF/PR composite. SEM observations show clearly the presence of CNTs at different levels of growth at the interface CF/PR. They also reveal that oxidizing carbon felts greatly boosts the CNT production in the composite (CF-oxy/CNT/PR). Raman spectroscopy, using the ID/IG ratio, confirmed these findings, matching the conductivity measurements. The formation of CNT via a ferrocene catalyst at the CF/PR interface notably enhanced the composite electrode's conductivity, especially when the carbon felts were oxidized. The elaborated composites were further used as cathodes to carry out the electro-Fenton (EF) process applied to the degradation of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) in the treated effluent. The discoloration of the AO7 solution was achieved in