What Is the Hydroxyl Radical?

Hydroxyl radical (-OH) is an important reactive oxygen species, which is formed by the loss of an electron from hydroxide (OH¯) from the molecular formula. Hydroxyl radicals have a very strong electron-gathering ability, which is the oxidation ability, with an oxidation potential of 2.8V. Is second only to oxidants in nature.

Hydroxyl radicals

Hydroxyl radical (-OH) is an important reactive oxygen species.

In April 2019, Wei Dacheng's group at Fudan University developed a graphene field-effect transistor sensor based on internal shear reaction to achieve the detection of hydroxyl radicals. In the sensor, graphene acts as a conductive channel. During the detection process, hydroxyl radicals undergo oxidative shear reactions with Au-S bonds, and charged metal ions are released from the surface of graphene, causing the current in the graphene channel to change, thereby indirectly detecting the hydroxyl radicals. The sensor has good selectivity for hydroxyl radicals, with a minimum detection concentration of one billionth of a mole. ^[1]

Although at home and abroad

In recent years, high-concentration and stable-structure organic wastewater has continuously appeared. How to effectively remove these difficult-to-degrade organic wastewater has become a hot issue in water treatment. Hydroxyl radical (· OH) has a very high oxidation potential (2.80eV), and its oxidizing power is very strong. It can react with most organic pollutants in a fast chain reaction, and selectively oxidizes harmful substances into CO2, H2O or mineral salts, no secondary pollution. Many researchers at home and abroad have conducted research on the use of OH to treat organic wastewater. There are many ways to generate · OH, including Fenton method, oxidative flocculation method, ozone method, ultrasonic degradation method and photocatalytic method. In recent years, great progress has been made in the treatment of organic waste water by the use of electrochemical methods to generate OH, and it has achieved great results in degradation and decolorization. The following is a review of the latest developments in the pathway of electro-generation · OH and its application in organic wastewater treatment.