CuO nanostructured thin films supported on silicon with 6.5 cm² area (geometric area greater than the studies reported in the literature) were synthesized by a chemical bath deposition technique. The electrodes were characterized by MEV, XRD, XPS, contact angle, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analyses. To evaluate the photoelectrochemical properties of the CuO films, photocurrent–voltage measurements were performed using linear voltammetry. The catalytic activities of CuO nanostructures were evaluated by monitoring photodegradation of Mitoxantrone (MTX) under UV-A light irradiation. The method of photoelectrocatalysis (PEC), applying a voltage of 1.5 V and assisted by adding H₂O₂, was undertaken. To the best of our knowledge, no studies on the degradation of anticancer agents using PEC process have been found in the literature. For comparison purposes, experiments were performed under the same conditions by assisted photocatalysis (PC) with H₂O₂ and direct photolysis. CuO deposits consist of a needle-like morphology. The presence of CuO in the tenorite phase was evidenced by XRD and the XPS spectra showed the presence of copper(II) oxide. The increase in current under illumination shows that CuO exhibits photoactivity. The PEC system showed a 75% level of MTX degradation, while the level achieved using PC was 50%. Under UV-A light alone only 3% removal was obtained after 180 min. Up to 10 by-products were identified by chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) with m/z values ranging between 521 and 285 and a plausible degradation route has been proposed. It is worth mentioning that 9 by-products identified in this work, were not found in the literature in other studies of degradation or products generated as metabolites. The toxicity tests of MTX before and after PEC treatment with Artemia Salina and Allium cepa showed a decrease in the acute toxicity of the medium as the antineoplastic was degraded.

通过化学浴沉积技术合成了面积为6.5 cm ²（大于文献报道的几何面积）的负载在硅上的CuO纳米结构薄膜。通过MEV，XRD，XPS，接触角，循环伏安法和电化学阻抗谱分析对电极进行了表征。为了评估CuO薄膜的光电化学性质，使用线性伏安法进行了光电流-电压测量。通过在UV-A光照射下监测米托蒽醌（MTX）的光降解来评估CuO纳米结构的催化活性。施加1.5 V电压并添加H ₂ O ₂辅助的光电催化（PEC）方法进行。据我们所知，文献中未发现使用PEC法降解抗癌药的任何研究。为了进行比较，在相同条件下通过H ₂ O ₂辅助光催化（PC）进行了实验和直接光解。CuO沉积物呈针状形态。X射线衍射证实了锰矿相中存在CuO，XPS光谱表明存在氧化铜（II）。照明下电流的增加表明CuO表现出光活性。PEC系统显示MTX降解水平为75％，而使用PC达到的水平为50％。在单独的UV-A光下，180分钟后仅获得3％的去除率。色谱-质谱法（LC-MS）在m / z的条件下鉴定出多达10种副产物值介于521和285之间，并且已经提出了合理的降解途径。值得一提的是，这项工作中鉴定出的9种副产物，在其他有关降解或代谢产物的研究中均未发现。用Artemia Salina和葱属洋葱进行PEC治疗之前和之后的MTX毒性试验表明，随着抗肿瘤药物的降解，培养基的急性毒性降低。