Designing carbon supported metal oxide based chemical gardens for the electrocatalytic decomposition of dyes in waste water.

纺织工业每年产生大量的染料废料，结果污染了全球的供水。这对印度等发展中国家来说是一个大问题，因为它们在经济上严重依赖纺织业，但却没有办法抵消随之而来的染料污染。分解水中有机物质的一种方法是使用高级氧化过程（AOP）。这个过程依赖于羟基自由基（OH）的产生，羟基自由基可以将水中的有机分子氧化成无害的产物。该项目将结合新颖的3D纳米碳结构和金属氧化物纳米颗粒混合物来创建定制的催化系统，该系统既可以产生羟基自由基，又可以利用羟基自由基分解废水中的染料。这些催化剂将被设计用于电催化，流动反应器系统，使高虽然放和反馈驱动的催化剂操作优化。利用低成本、丰富的元素，即碳和第一排过渡金属氧化物，以及无试剂电子进行氧化，将为废水处理提供一种环境可持续的解决方案。

The textile industry creates a massive amount of dye waste every year, which as a result, contaminates worldwide water supplies. This is a big problem for developing countries such as India, as they rely enormously on their textile industry economically, but do not have the means to counteract the subsequent dye pollution. One method to decompose organic materials within water is to use an advanced oxidation process (AOP). This process relies on the production of hydroxyl radicals (OH) which can oxidise organic molecules within the water into non-hazardous products. This project will combine novel 3D nanocarbon structures and mixtures of metal oxide nanoparticles to create bespoke catalytic systems which can be tuned to both generate and then use hydroxyl radicals to decompose dyes in waste water. These catalysts will be designed to function in electrocatalytic, flow reactor systems enabling both high though put and feedback driven optimisation of catalyst operation. Using low cost, abundant elements, i.e. carbon and first row transition metal based oxides, and reagent free electrons for oxidation will provide an environmentally sustainable solution to waste water treatment.