Concurrent palm oil mill effluent degradation and power production by photocatalytic fuel cell

Concurrent palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment and the electricity production was magnificently established by the as-fabricated photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC). The photoelectrodes were analyzed for its physical and chemical properties. The ZnO/Zn photoanode was observed to be uniform nanorods with size of 1000–1200 nm. The CuO/Cu photocathode was uniform nanoflakes in the length of 2143–2857 nm and the breadth of 286–571 nm. The EDX study revealed the respective elements on the photoelectrodes. As-established PFC was used to examine the COD and colour removal of POME, and its electricity generation under 240 minutes of UV illumination. The outcomes suggested that the as-prepared ZnO/Zn photoanode displayed higher COD (71 %) and colour (58 %) removal as compared with commercial ZnO/Zn photoanode. The system exhibited a greater short circuit current density and maximum power density of 0.0797 mA/cm² and 0.0121 mW/cm². The presence of 0.2 M sodium chloride as supporting electrolyte completely removed the COD and colour from the PFC system with the peak current density and maximum power density of 0.2113 mA/cm² and 0.0337 mW/cm² in the POME. PFC is a promising technology that can be used for efficient photocatalytic degradation and electricity production.