Nano-engineered graphene based NiCo2O4-coated reticulated vitreous carbon foam (RVC@2.5 %graphene@NCO) incorporated cylindrical reactor for continuous flow photodegradation of 2,3-DCP.

A series of novel NiCo2O4 (NCO)-coated graphene-incorporated reticulated vitreous carbon foam, termed RVC@Graphene@NCO, was synthesized by incorporating graphene platelets into polyurethane (PU) foam, followed by carbonization of the PU foam and subsequent NCO growth on the RVC foam surface by the hydrothermal method. 10 pieces of the foam disks filled a cylindrical reactor volume of 183.4 cm3, yielding a volumetric packing area of 1.98 cm2 cm-3. A photocatalytic degradation of 30 mg L-1 of 2,3-dichlorophenol (2,3-DCP) was run with a continuous plug flow, where the mean linear flow velocity (υ) was 0.031 cm s-1. Amongst all the developed materials, the lowest band gap energy of 2.85 eV was observed for the RVC@2.5 %Graphene@NCO. The XRD pattern indicates that the peaks of RVC, graphene and NCO are superimposed, in which the sharp crystalline peaks of NCO can be observed along with the broad, amorphous peaks of RVC foam and graphene. A surface adsorption to degradation kinetics was evaluated with the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model, revealing an apparent rate constant of 0.064 min-1 for the degradation. A 4-times recycled catalyst showed retained stability and efficacy. The energy consumption and cost were obtained at 1.08 × 104 kWh m-3 order-1 and 329.52 $, respectively.