Decolorization of C.I. Reactive Orange 4 and Textile Effluents by Electrochemical Oxidation Technique using Silver-Carbon Composite Electrode

Abstract

In this study, the electrochemical oxidation of C. I. Reactive Orange 4 (RO4) on a silver–carbon composite (AgC-PVC) electrode was studied using the cyclic voltammetry, potential liner V, and electrolysis methods. The AgC-PVC electrode was used as the working electrode in the electrochemical measurement of RO4 in the presence of NaCl as a supporting electrolyte. The UV-Vis spectra of RO4 after the electrochemical oxidation showed the complete decolorization of the solution. The electrolysis products were characterized using FTIR and GCMS. The results showed that in the presence of OCl- as an active oxidant, RO4 molecules are broken down into several lower-molecular-weight molecules by the electrochemical method. The electrode used was also able to reduce the COD, BOD5 and surfactant contents in the textile effluents using a pilot scale reactor. This proved that the prepared AgC-PVC electrode was beneficial for removing both the color and other pollutants from textile effluents.

Keywords

• decolorization
• electrochemical oxidation
• composite electrode
• textile effluents
• C. I. Reactive Orange 4