Electro-Mineralization of Aqueous Phenazopyridine Using Platinum Nanoparticles Deposited onto Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Water may easily become polluted by pharmaceutical wastes, such as phenazopyridine hydrochloride. The pollutant can be removed by electrochemical oxidation in the form of minerals. A novel electrode has been developed for this purpose. Pt nanoparticles (PtNPs) are electrodeposited onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes supported onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO/Glass). The resulting PtNP@MWCNT-FTO-E electrode is characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, electron diffraction spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrode exhibits high efficiency in the electrochemical oxidation process thanks to the large specific surface area of the PtNPs and their ability to behave as charge transfer catalysts. The contaminant undergoes complete mineralization, leaving no organics after treatment. The resulting nitrate ions further confirm contaminant mineralization, but fortunately, they disappear over time, which confirms the safety of the process in water treatment. Moreover, the electrode operates under a variety of applied potentials, pH values, temperatures and contaminant concentrations. The electrode exhibits high stability upon recovery and reuse while retaining its physical characteristics before and after use. This study highlights the benefit of using Pt nanoparticles in the electro-degradation of aqueous organic contaminants, especially waste pharmaceuticals, for the first time. It also recommends scaling up the process and studying the continuous-flow reaction process to assess the economic and technical feasibility in future large-scale applications.