Serena Randazzo

Electrochemical oxidation of organics in water: Role of operative parameters in the absence and in the presence of NaCl

The electrochemical oxidation of organics in water was investigated theoretically and experimentally to determine the role of several operative parameters on the performances of the process in the presence and in the absence of sodium chloride. Theoretical considerations were used to design the experimental investigation and were confirmed by the results of the electrochemical oxidation of oxalic acid (OA) at boron doped diamond (BDD) or IrO(2)-Ta(2)O(5) (DSA-O(2)) anodes in a continuous batch recirculation reaction system equipped with a parallel plate undivided electrochemical cell. Polarization curves and chronoamperometric measurements indicated that, in the presence of chlorides, the anodic oxidation of OA is partially replaced by an indirect oxidation process. This result was confirmed by electrolyses experiments that show that, in the presence of suitable amount of chlorides, oxidation of OA takes place mainly by a homogeneous process. Interestingly, a very different influence of the nature of the anodic material, the flow rate and the current density on the performances of the process arises in the absence and in the presence of chlorides so that optimization of the two processes requires very different operative conditions. In the absence of chlorides, high current efficiency (CE) is obtained at BDD when most part of the process is under charge transfer controlled kinetics, i.e. when low current densities and high flow rates are imposed. On the other hand, in the presence of NaCl, higher CE are generally obtained at DSA anode when high current densities and low flow rates are imposed, i.e. when a high concentration of chemical oxidants is obtained as a result of the chloride oxidation. The effect of other operative parameters such as the OA concentration and the pH were further investigated.

Comparative electrochemical treatments of two chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons. Time course of the main reaction by-products

Acidic aqueous solutions of the chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons 1,2-dichloroethane (DCA) and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (TCA) have been treated by the electro-Fenton (EF) process. Bulk electrolyses were performed at constant current using a BDD anode and an air diffusion cathode able to generate H(2)O(2) in situ, which reacts with added Fe(2+) to yield OH from Fentons reaction. At 300 mA, almost total mineralization was achieved at 420 min for solutions containing 4mM of either DCA or TCA. Comparative treatments without Fe(2+) (anodic oxidation) or with a Pt anode led to a poorer mineralization. The better performance of the EF process with BDD is explained by the synergistic action of the oxidizing radicals, BDD(OH) at the anode surface and OH in the bulk, and the minimization of diffusional limitations. The decay of the initial pollutant accomplished with pseudo first-order kinetics. Chloroacetic and dichloroacetic acids were the major by-products during the degradation of DCA and TCA, respectively. Acetic, oxalic and formic acids were also identified. The proposed reaction pathways include oxidative and reductive (cathodic) dechlorination steps. Chlorine was released as Cl(-), being further oxidized to ClO(3)(-) and, mostly, to ClO(4)(-), due to the action of the largely generated BDD(OH) and OH.