Recently, Professor Shan Qiu and her team from School of Environment, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment published a review paper entitled “A Critical Review on the Mechanisms of Fe2+ Regeneration in Electro-Fenton Process: Fundamentals and Boosting Strategies” in Chemical Reviews, which is a prestigious journal known for its high impact factor of 72.087 and which is only focused on review paper. Meanwhile, this work has been selected as the front cover to highlight as indicated in Fig.1. The research paper boasts a distinguished team of co-corresponding authors, including Professor Shan Qiu, Professor Ignasi Sirés and Professor Enric Brillas. Additionally, Associate Professor Fengxia Deng has played a crucial role as the first author of the paper. It is worth noting that Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) served as the primary affiliation for this groundbreaking research.
This review presents an exhaustive overview on the mechanisms of Fe3+ cathodic reduction within the context of electro-Fenton (EF) process (Fig.2). Different strategies developed to improve the reduction rate were discussed. According to the mechanistic feature, two categories of electron transfer control and mass transport control were promoted. Boosting Fe3+ conversion to Fe2+ via electron transfer control includes: (i) the formation of a series of active sites in both carbon- and metal-based materials, and (ii) the use of other emerging strategies such as single atom catalysis or confinement effects. Concerning the enhancement of Fe2+ regeneration by mass transport control, the main routes involve the application of magnetic fields, pulse electrolysis, interfacial Joule heating effect and photoirradiation. Finally, challenges are singled out and future prospects are described. This review aims to clarify the Fe3+/Fe2+ cycling process in EF process, eventually providing essential ideas for the smart design of highly effective systems for wastewater treatment and valorization at industrial scale.
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China and the State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology. The postdoctoral scholarship awarded to Fengxia. Deng. (State Scholarship Fund, CSC, China) is acknowledged.
Reference:
Fengxia Deng, Hugo Olvera Vargas, Minghua Zhou, Ignasi Sirés*, Shan Qiu*, Enric Brillas*. A critical review on the mechanisms of Fe2+ regeneration in electro-Fenton process: Fundamentals and boosting strategies. Chemical Reviews, 2023, 123, 8, 4635-4662.
Fig. 1. The work has been selected as the front cover to highlight
Fig. 2. The content of this review paper summerizing from mass transfer, double layer and electronic effect.
