Comparative Performance of Ten Electrodes in Electro‐Fenton Process for Removal of Organic Pollutants from Water

Abstract

AbstractElectrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs), based on the in situ generation of the powerful oxidant, hydroxyl radical (.OH), have been developed for effective destruction of recalcitrant organic pollutants. Electrode materials used both as anode and cathode constitute one of the key parameters affecting the process efficiency. The electro‐Fenton (EF) process is one of the most powerful EAOPs in water/wastewater treatment. Inversely to other EAOPs, in the EF process, .OH can be generated both in the bulk solution (from reagents formed at the cathode) and on anode surface. Therefore, the role of anode/cathode couple is of great importance for this process. This study focuses on the comparative performance of ten electrodes (5 anodes, 5 cathodes) through more than fifty combinations during removal of the antibiotic p‐aminosalicylic acid (p‐ASA), taken as target pollutant. The following parameters were chosen for performance assessment: oxidative degradation kinetics, the time needed for complete destruction of p‐ASA, mineralization rate, mineralization current efficiency and energy consumption. The results obtained highlight the following sequence for the performance of anodes: BDD > PbO2 > Ti4O7 > Pt≈DSA, and that of cathodes: carbon sponge ≥ carbon felt > graphite > stainless steel≈titanium.