The study on the ability to treat picric acid in water using the indirect photoelectrocatalytic oxidation method with a WO3/Cu electrode

The article presents the results of a study on the fabrication and evaluation of certain properties, morphology, crystal structure of the WO₃ coating on a Cu substrate. Simultaneously, the article introduces the preliminary results of evaluating the ability to treat picric acid in water using the indirect electrochemical oxidation method with a WO₃/Cu electrode and HOCl as the oxidizing agent. The research results show that the WO₃ coating on Cu substrate has a hexagonal crystal structure, a density of 6.422 g/cm³, an absorption intensity of 0.8 a.u (λ = 420 nm), and an energy bandgap of approximately 2.8 eV. With an applied potential of +0.8 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) to the WO₃/Cu electrode, the indirect photoelectrochemical oxidation method using the WO₃/Cu electrode and HOCl as the oxidizing agent achieves a 95% treatment efficiency for TNP at a concentration of 80 mg/L after 105 minutes at room temperature.