Facilely Prepared N-Doped Graphene/Pt/TiO2 as an Efficient Anode for Acetaminophen Degradation

Abstract This study developed nitrogen-doped graphene/Pt/TiO 2 (N-GN/Pt/TiO 2 ) as anode to effectively degrade aminophenol (APAP) in electrocatalytic process. Due to the different physicochemical properties of graphene with various N species loading, the efficiency of catalysts was novelty discussed. The morphology, N-doped content/species, and the graphene defects of the catalyst were analyzed by TEM, FTIR, XPS, EA, and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the doping morphology of the N atoms gradually shifted from pyridinic N and pyrrolic N to graphitic N with increased hydrothermal time, in order to decrease the defect degrees and redox activity. However, the conductivity of material increased with the graphitic N generation. The best APAP degradation efficiency (100% with 20 mA, 1 g/L NaCl, and initial pH 3.0) can be achieved with 1.5-N-GN/Pt/TiO 2 (mainly pyridinic N and pyrrolic N doping). A detailed investigation was conducted to determine the oxidation intermediates of APAP using GC-MS analysis. Finally, a possible degradation pathway was proposed. Graphical Abstract