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

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.