The degradation of 1,4 acetaminophen by electrocatalytic oxidation process and investigation the by-products of the system

Abstract

The study was aimed at using Ti/IrO2-RuO2 electrocatalytic electrodes for the purpose of removing 1,4-acetaminophen from a solution. The electrooxidation process's efficiency was studied by controlling various parameters such as pH (3−11), current density (100–1000 A.m-2), electrolyte type (NaCl, Na2SO4, KCl), and conductivity (1.5–10 mS.cm-1). Additionally, H2O2 addition (100–1000 µL), and acetaminophen concentration (25–100 ppm) were also studied. In addition, it was found that when the initial concentrations were increased from 25 ppm to 100 ppm, there was a corresponding increase in the removal efficiencies, which ranged from 27% to 36% at a current density of 350 A.m-2 and a conductivity of 3.5 mS.cm-1 for a period of 90 min. The removal efficiency increased from 30% to 42% when 0.5 mL of 30% H2O2 was added to the initial concentration of 50 ppm. The presence of chlorine ions in a solution has been demonstrated to result in the formation of oxidation products. This result has enabled researchers to investigate the toxic and disinfecting properties of the solution. The LC-MS spectra analysis revealed the formation of intermediate degradation products. The identification of these metabolites enabled the suggestion of their structure and degradation mechanism.