Pining-Effect Single-Atom Nico Alloy Embedded Macro-Assembled-Graphene-Aerogel in Electro-Fenton Process for Rapid Degradation of Emerging Contaminants

Inspired by the growing development of dual single-atom catalysts, a bimetallic single-atom alloy based macro-assembled graphene aerogel was synthesized in this study. The NiCo/GO aerogel with pining effect was used as a sustainable cathode material in an in-situ H2O2 generation system The SAA cathode exhibited a remarkable catalytic activity towards the two-electron-dominated ORR for wastewater treatment. The energy consumption was calculated to be around 0.660 kW·h/t for treatment of water containing 2 mg L-1 ibuprofen. Density functional theory analysis revealed the specific roles of the dual-functional NiCo SAA in the GO aerogel cathode, i.e., the Co sites more preferentially adsorb O2 molecules for H2O2 generation while the Ni sites function as the active sites for H2O2 dissociation and activation. The research findings shed light on the controlled synthesis of SAAs for advanced catalysis and its potential application in the treatment of emerging organic contaminants for water safety and pollution control.