Significantly accelerated PEC degradation of organic pollutant with addition of sulfite and mechanism study

Visible-light-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) catalysis has been widely studied as a promising technique for the degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater. Herein, we report a sulfite-enhanced PEC degradation process for the degradation of organic pollutant. The degradation rate was significantly enhanced by ～30 times with the addition of 16 mM sulfite. The Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), Transient Absorption (TA) and hole scavenger studies showed that sulfite radicals ( S O 3 ⦁ - ) were the main reactive species in the reactions. The pollutant degradation pathway was studied by in-situ techniques and mass spectrometer, showing that the sulfite addition can promote the cleavage of aromatic ring C C bond and C N bond.