Journal of Electrochemical Science and Engineering (Dec 2014)

Electrochemical mediated oxidation of phenol using Ti/IrO2 and Ti/Pt-SnO2-Sb2O5 electrodes

  • Jéssica Pires de Paiva Barreto,
  • Elisma Vieria dos Santos,
  • Mariana Medeiros Oliveira,
  • Djalma Ribeiro da Silva,
  • João Fernandes de Souza,
  • Carlos Alberto Martinez-Huitle

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5599/jese.2014.0069
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 4
pp. 259 – 270

Abstract

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The indirect electrochemical oxidation of phenol has been studied in at Ti/IrO2 and Ti/Pt-SnO2-Sb2O5, electrodes by bulk electrolysis experiments under galvanostatic control. The obtained results have clearly shown that the electrode material is an important parameter for the optimization of such processes, deciding of their mechanism and of the oxidation products. Different current efficiencies were obtained at Ti/IrO2 and Ti/Pt-SnO2-Sb2O5, depending on the applied current density in the range from 10, 20 and 30 mA cm−2. Also the effect of the amount of NaCl dissolved was studied. It has been observed that the electrochemical processes (direct/indirect) favor specific oxidation pathways depending on electrocatalytic material. Phenol degradation generates several intermediates eventually leading to complete mineralization, as indicated by the results obtained with the High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) technique.

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