Efficient reactive electrochemical carbon membranes for organic pollutants removal from aqueous solution: A study of multi-physics modeling and simulation approach

Abstract

A novel application of three metal oxide catalysts CuOx, Fe2O3, and CoO onto coal-based carbon membrane (CM) in the enhancement of electrochemical removal of high concentration organic pollutants is presented. Their morphology, structure, and elemental composition were characterized. Analysis of their performance in the treatment of highly concentrated Rhodamine B (RhB), Rose Bengal, and phenol pollutants with respective concentrations of 600 mg/l, 637 mg/l, and 50 mg/l presented excellent removal efficiency (all >97 %). A study of the degradation mechanism of pollutants at the membrane surface was approached through multi-physics modeling and simulation of the reaction kinetics of complex indirect RhB oxidation chemistry occurring at the copper oxide membrane surface which involved oxidation of resistant intermediates. The results gave a degradation efficiency of 99.82 % after 60 s of reaction at the CM-CuOx surface which is very close to the experimental results. An understanding of the pollutants concentration distribution across the electrocatalytic filtration system was achieved through simulation of the transport, diffusion, and convection of degraded products through the membrane walls. No fouling was observed for RhB treatment and a new insight into the interactions between pollutants molecules and reactive membrane surfaces was brought by the mean of Monte-Carlo simulations of their adsorption mechanisms. Finally, a comparison with other Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Processes (EAOPs), revealed that the membranes fabricated in this work possessed significant advantages both in terms of permeability and removal efficiency.