Fabrication of tubular porous titanium membrane electrode and application in electrochemical membrane reactor for treatment of wastewater

Titanium membrane (TTM) /SnO2-Sb/SnO2-Sb-CeO2 anode in continuous tubular membrane reactor using solar cell was designed and used for electrochemical treatment of dye wastewater. Study shows titanium electrochemical membrane reactor with an optimized diameter of 10 um has the lowest energy consumption. The optimized operation voltage of 3.5V and flow rate of 3.0L/min gives a 100% discoloration rate within 10min. This continuous titanium membrane electrochemical reactor using solar cell shows the excellent performance in treating dye wastewater and the further potential application in electrosynthesis. [Display omitted] •The continuous titanium electrochemical membrane reactor using solar cell was fabricated.•SnO2-Sb and SnO2-Sb-CeO2 electrocatalytic coating was sequentially deposited onto the pore of tubular titanium membrane.•Titanium electrochemical membrane reactor with an optimized diameter of 10μm has the lowest energy consumption.•Titanium electrochemical membrane reactor gives a 100% discoloration rate at a low operation voltage of 3.5V. In this study, tubular titanium membrane (TTM) /SnO2-Sb/SnO2-Sb-CeO2 porous anode was fabricated and used in continuous tubular membrane reactor for electrochemical treatment of dye wastewater. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) were used to evaluate the morphology and microstructure of the different tubular titanium membrane. Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and accelerated service life test are employed to illustrate the performance of TTM/SnO2-Sb/SnO2-Sb-CeO2 porous membrane electrode. It is found that TTM/SnO2-Sb/SnO2-Sb-CeO2 active layer on titanium membrane has compact microstructure, high over-potential for oxygen evolution (2.10V vs saturated calomel electrode). The effects of pore diameter, applied voltage and flow rate on the electro-catalytic property of the tubular porous electrode were investigated. Study shows titanium membrane reactor with an optimized pore diameter of 10μm has the lowest energy consumption which is important for the practical application of electrochemical technology. The performance of titanium tubular membrane reactor is investigated by treating methylene blue (MB) wastewater under the cell voltage of 3.0–4.5V and the flow rate of 2.5–3.5Lmin−1. This continuous titanium membrane electrochemical reactor using solar cell show excellent performance in treating dye wastewater and the further potential a