Graphene/β‐cyclodextrin Membrane: Synthesis and Photoelectrocatalytic Degradation of Brominated Flame Retardants

Abstract

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have attracted considerable attention due to their environmental persistence and potentially high environmental risk. Therefore, the development of an efficient method for the removal of BFRs is urgently needed. In this work, a photoelectrocatalytic method based on a graphene (GR)/β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) membrane was developed to degrade BFRs (including tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and 1,2,5,6,9,10‐hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)). The obtained GR/β‐CD membrane has high efficiency for photoelectrocatalytic degradation and excellent chemical stability. Under optimum conditions, the photoelectrocatalytic degradation efficiencies of TBBPA was 99.2 % within 120 min, and HBCD was 90.7 % within 180 min. And superoxide radical was essential for the photoelectrocatalytic degradation of both TBBPA and HBCD. Toxicity assessments for the possible degradation pathways was a decreasing trend, which indicated that potential risks for aquatic organisms were reduced. Briefly, this work provides a strategy to construct a GR‐based photoelectrocatalyst and paves the pathway for practical applications. The work demonstrated here offers a new‐sight for designing and constructing efficient photoelectrocatalyst for environment‐related applications.

Application of Metal Oxides Prepared Based on Ferroelectric‐Based Photoelectric Conversion Materials in the Thermal Degradation of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers

“…The flame retardant properties of PBDEs are gas phase flame retardant, and the specific mechanism is as follows. PBDEs are decomposed by heat to generate HBr, which can capture active free radicals that transfer combustion chain reactions [19]. It can produce bromine free radicals with lower activity, which can slow down or stop the combustion reaction.…”