High efficiency toluene electrooxidation at gas-solid interface on Nafion-modified SnO2-Sb/Ti anode

Electrocatalysis has been widely applied to treat organic compounds in wastewater; however, the efficient electrooxidation of gaseous organic compounds remains a significant challenge. Here, we fabricated a Nafion-modified SnO2-Sb/Ti anode and assembled an all-solid reactor, achieving highly efficient electrooxidation of gaseous toluene. The anode coated with Nafion layer (Ti-SnO2-Sb-10N) mineralized over 85 % toluene (35 ppm) with > 97 % CO2 selectivity in 90 min at ambient temperature, in stark contrast to 8 % conversion over bare Ti-SnO2-Sb under the same testing conditions. Based on the characterization results, we revealed that Nafion modification greatly increased the electrochemical active surface area (ECSA), accelerated the charge transfer, and also improved surface hydrophobicity. These three characteristics of Ti-SnO2-Sb-10N significantly enhanced the production of hydroxyl radicals and optimized the reaction pathway, leading to high efficiency in gas-solid interface BTX electrooxidation.