Ultrafast Degradation of Organic Dyes by Water Atomization and Contact-Electro-Catalysis

Contact-electro-catalysis (CEC) has emerged as a novel approach for catalyzing redox reactions. However, there is still significant room for enhancing the catalytic efficiency of CEC. Here, an organic degradation device that combines water atomization and CEC based on a gas-liquid two-phase flow-based triboelectric nanogenerator (GL-TENG) was designed. When using 8 mg/L of crystal violet (CV) as the target dye and the airflow velocity reaches 30 m/s, the degradation rate constant <i>k</i> is as high as 73.15 min^-1, significantly exceeding existing contact electrocatalytic efficiencies. The impact of the dye concentration on the output performance of GL-TENG was investigated. It shows a good linear relationship between the concentration and the output signal of the GL-TENG. Real-time monitoring of dye concentration can be achieved using the output signal of the GL-TENG located at the end of the tube. These experimental results not only offer an ultrafast method for degrading organic dyes but also provide new insights into the interactions between dye solutions and solid surfaces.