Organic amines are regarded as high toxic, refractory chemicals due to the great damage on human body, and ecosystem. The treatment of organic amine wastewater involves the removal of total nitrogen and toxic organics simultaneously, which is one of the biggest difficulties in wastewater treatment. In this study, hazardous organic amine wastewater was purified by a photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) with efficient nitrogen removal and organic degradation, and its chemical energy was recovered simultaneously based on hydroxyl radical (HO·) and chlorine radical (Cl·) reaction in a novel TiO₂/WO₃ and 3D Cu nanowires modified Cu foam (CuNWs/CF) system. TiO₂/WO₃ heterojunction as photoanode provided rapid charge separation and good stability, and the composite of poly-Si enhanced the light harvest and charge transfer. HO· played critical role in degrading organic amines, while Cl· was responsible for selectively oxidizing amine group or NH₄⁺ to N₂. Besides, trace amount of NO₂⁻ and NO₃⁻ formed by over-oxidation was eliminated on CuNWs/CF cathode due to large specific surface area and fast charge transfer. Moderate Cl⁻ concentration and initial pH had vital influence on strengthening Cl· and HO· generation in the system, and the optimal conditions were 50 mM NaCl and pH = 7. For methylamine, ethylamine and dimethylamine wastewater, the system showed total nitrogen removal efficiency of 94.93%, 91.81%, 93.10% and total organic carbon removal of 58.47%, 53.57%, and 56.71% within 2 h, respectively. Moreover, the corresponding maximum power densities of 2.49, 2.40, 2.27 mW cm⁻² were also generated, respectively. The study proposes an efficient, sustainable method for the treatment of hazardous organic amine wastewater and simultaneous energy recovery.

有机胺类物质对人体和生态系统的危害很大，被认为是高毒、难降解的化学品。有机胺废水的处理涉及同时去除总氮和有毒有机物，这是废水处理的最大难点之一。本研究采用高效脱氮和降解有机物的光催化燃料电池（PFC）净化有害有机胺废水，并通过羟基自由基（HO·）和氯自由基（Cl·）反应同时回收其化学能。一种新型 TiO ₂ /WO ₃和 3D Cu 纳米线改性的 Cu 泡沫 (CuNWs/CF) 系统。TiO ₂ /WO ₃异质结作为光阳极提供了快速的电荷分离和良好的稳定性，多晶硅的复合增强了光的收集和电荷转移。HO·在降解有机胺中起关键作用，而Cl·负责选择性地将胺基或NH ₄ ⁺氧化成N ₂。此外，由于大的比表面积和快速的电荷转移，在CuNWs / CF正极上消除了由过氧化形成的痕量NO ₂ ^-和NO ₃ ^-。中等氯^-浓度和初始pH对加强系统中Cl·和H2O·的生成有重要影响，最佳条件为50 mM NaCl和pH = 7。对于甲胺、乙胺和二甲胺废水，系统的总脱氮效率为94.93% 、91.81%、93.10% 和 2 h 内总有机碳去除率分别为 58.47%、53.57% 和 56.71%。此外，还分别产生了2.49、2.40、2.27 mW cm ^-2的相应最大功率密度。该研究提出了一种有效、可持续的方法来处理有害的有机胺废水并同时进行能量回收。