3D-Porous Titanium Foam-Modified Sb-Doped SnO2 Anode Enables Low-Energy Consumption and High-Efficiency Electrochemical Degradation of Dye Wastewater

Electrocatalytic antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) anodes are promising for wastewater treatment due to their high activity and low material cost. Nevertheless, the practical application is hindered by two-dimensional SnO2 electrodes with small active area, low mass transfer rates, and poor adhesion of the active layer and the substrate. In this study, a porous titanium foam-based ATO (TF@ATO) anode was successfully constructed by the solvothermal method, exhibiting good electrochemical performance and structural stability. Compared to the plate SnO2 electrodes, the electroactive surface area of 3D TF@ATO anode is increased by ∼6 times, and the accelerated service life is improved by ∼35 times. In the degradation of model rhodamine B (RhB) effluents (50 mg/L), the porous TF@ATO anode demonstrates the quicker decolorization rate (98.52%) and lower specific energy consumption (3.34 kWh/m3/order) than that of the conditional plate anode within 120 min at a current of 10 mA/cm2. More importantly, the porous Ti-based electrode exhibited effective degradation in high-concentration (1000 mg/L) dye wastewater, which indicates that the prepared electrodes had potential for engineering application. Finally, the possible degradation pathways were proposed based on high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis, suggesting a feasible strategy toward efficient and deep mineralization of dye-containing wastewater.