Electrochemical Production of Hydrogen Peroxide in Perchloric Acid Supporting Electrolytes for the Synthesis of Chlorine Dioxide

Remediation of soils contaminated with methomyl using electrochemically produced gaseous oxidants

This prospective work focuses on the use of two different gaseous oxidants (chlorine dioxide and ozone) to remediate soil polluted with methomyl in two different applications: ex-situ and in-situ. In the first, the soil washing is integrated with the bubbling of the oxidant, while in the second, the gas was introduced by a perforated pipe located sub-superficially. Regarding the soil washing treatment, results demonstrate that direct use of ozone is not very efficient, although an important improvement is obtained following activation with hydrogen peroxide or UV light. In contrast, chlorine dioxide exhibited complete methomyl depletion from the soil, although with higher energy consumption and technical complexity compared to ozone. The direct dosing of the gaseous oxidants in perforated pipes is effective, achieving methomyl removals of 7.8 % and 9.2 % using ozone and chlorine dioxide, respectively. In these cases, soil conditions are not significantly modified, which becomes an important advantage of the technology as compared with other electrochemically assisted soil remediation process, in which large regions of the treated soil are affected by important changes in the pH or by depletion of ions. This lower impact makes these novel technologies more promising for further evaluations.

Treatment of Organics in Wastewater Using Electrogenerated Gaseous Oxidants

This work focuses on the comparison of the performance of direct electrochemical oxidation with indirect electrolysis mediated by gaseous oxidants in the treatment of diluted wastewater. To do this, energy consumptions of the electrolysis using mixed metal oxide (MMO) electrodes are compared with those required for the production and use of chlorine dioxide in the degradation of methomyl contained in aqueous solutions. Results demonstrate the feasibility of the mediated oxidation process and that this process is competitive with direct oxidation. The oxidants are produced under optimized conditions using the same anodic material applied for the direct degradation of organics, thus avoiding efficiency losses associated with mass transfer limitations in the degradation of dilute organic solutions. Thus, using the ClO2 gaseous oxidant, a concentration of 0.1 mM of methomyl from a solution containing 500 mL is completely removed with an energy consumption as low as 50 Wh. The application of the same energy to a direct electrolytic process for treating the same wastewater can only reach less than half of this removal. These findings may have a very important application in the use of electrochemical technology to achieve the remediation of persistent pollutants in wastewater, where their low concentrations typically make direct processes very inefficient.

Electrochemical degradation of favipiravir (anti-viral) drug from aqueous solution: optimization of operating parameters using the response surface method

The aim of the current study is to investigate the efficacy of the electro-Fenton process in the degradation of favipiravir drugs from aqueous solutions, which has increased in use as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was developed using a Central Composite Design (CCD) in which five independent variables, including Fe2+ concentration, current density, initial FVP concentration, pH, and reaction time, were coded with high and low levels, and the maximum removal percentage of FVP (97.8%) and COD (91.65%) were determined as responses. In the EF process, 530 mg/L H2O2 was produced in-situ by cathodic reduction of O2 in aqueous solution and thus FVP has been successfully oxidized through hydroxyl radicals. The H2O2/Fe2+ ratio was determined to be 0.51 under optimum conditions. At the end of the experiment, the maximum energy consumption was found to be 2.12 kWh per g COD. The FVP was completely mineralized in a very short time by the EF process, according to the LC-MS/MS examination. The EF process followed the pseudo first-order kinetic model with the rate constants of 0.023, 0.016 and 0.006 1/min for pH 2, 3 and 4, respectively. According to the findings of this study, the electro-Fenton process is an effective method for removing FVP from aqueous solutions. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to show the degradation and optimum conditions of FVP in aqueous solution using the electro-Fenton (EF) process.

Cleaning technologies integrated in duct flows for the inactivation of pathogenic microorganisms in indoor environments: A critical review of recent innovations and future challenges

Pathogenic microorganisms are a major concern in indoor environments, particularly in sensitive facilities such as hospitals, due to their potential to cause nosocomial infections. This study evaluates the concentration of airborne bacteria and fungi in the University Hospital Complex of Albacete (Spain), comparing the results with recent literature. Staphylococcus is identified as the most prevalent bacterial genus with a percentage distribution of 35%, while Aspergillus represents the dominant fungal genus at 34%. The lack of high Technology Readiness Levels (TRL 6, TRL 7) for effective indoor air purification requires research efforts to bridge this knowledge gap. A screening of disinfection technologies for pathogenic airborne microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi is conducted. The integration of filtration, irradiation or and (electro)chemical gas treatment systems in duct flows is discussed to enhance the design of the air-conditioning systems for indoor air purification. Concerns over microbial growth have led to recent studies on coating commercial fibrous air filters with antimicrobial particles (silver nanoparticles, iron oxide nanowires) and polymeric materials (polyaniline, polyvinylidene fluoride). Promising alternatives to traditional short-wave UV-C energy for disinfection include LED and Far-UVC irradiation systems. Additionally, research explores the use of TiO2 and TiO2 doped with metals (Ag, Cu, Pt) in filters with photocatalytic properties, enabling the utilization of visible or solar light. Hybrid photocatalysis, combining TiO2 with polymers, carbon nanomaterials, or MXene nanomaterials, enhances the photocatalytic process. Chemical treatment systems such as aerosolization of biocidal agents (benzalkonium chloride, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide or ozone) with their possible combination with other technologies such as adsorption, filtration or photocatalysis, are also tested for gas disinfection. However, the limited number of studies on the use of electrochemical technology poses a challenge for further investigation into gas-phase oxidant generation, without the formation of harmful by-products, to raise its TRL for effectively inactivating airborne microorganisms in indoor environments.

Highly Efficient Electrochemical Production of Hydrogen Peroxide Using the GDE Technology

This work examines the role of oxygen supply in the improvement of the hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) electrochemical production efficiency and the generation of high H₂O₂ concentrations in electrochemical processes operated in a discontinuous mode. To conduct this study, a highly efficient Printex L6 carbon-based gas diffusion electrode (GDE) as a cathode was employed for the electrogeneration of H₂O₂ in a flow-by reactor and evaluated the effects of lowering the operation temperature (to increase solubility) and increasing the air supply in the system on H₂O₂ electrogeneration. The results obtained in this study show that unlike what is expected in flow-through reactors, the efficiency in the H₂O₂ production is not affected by the solubility of oxygen when GDE is employed in the electrochemical process (using the flow-by reactor); i.e., the efficiency of H₂O₂ production is not significantly dependent on O₂ solubility, temperature, and pressure. The application of the proposed PL6C-based GDE led to the generation of accumulated H₂O₂ of over 3 g L^-1 at a high current density. It should be noted, however, that the application of the electrocatalyst at lower current densities resulted in higher energy efficiency in terms of H₂O₂ production. Precisely, a specific production of H₂O₂ as high as 131 g kWh^-1 was obtained at 25 mA cm^-2; the energy efficiency (in terms of H₂O₂ production) values obtained in this study based on the application of the proposed GDE in a flow-by reactor at low current densities were found to be within the range of values recorded for H₂O₂ production techniques that employ flow-through reactors.