Energy-efficient reuse of bio-treated textile wastewater by a porous-structure electrochemical PbO2 filter: Performance and mechanism

In this work, a novel porous-structure electrochemical PbO2 filter (PEF-PbO2) was developed to achieve the reuse of bio-treated textile wastewater. The characterization of PEF-PbO2 confirmed that its coating has a variable pore size that increases with depth from the substrate, and the pores with a size of 5 μm account for the largest proportion. The study on the role of this unique structure illustrated that PEF-PbO2 possesses a larger electroactive area (4.09 times) than the conventional electrochemical PbO2 filter (EF-PbO2) and enhanced mass transfer (1.39 times) in flow mode. The investigation of operating parameters with a special discussion of electric energy consumption suggested that the optimal conditions were a current density of 3 mA cm-2, Na2SO4 concentration of 10 g L-1 and pH value of 3, which resulted in 99.07% and 53.3% removal of Rhodamine B and TOC, respectively, together with an MCETOC of 24.6%. A stable removal of 65.9% COD and 99.5% Rhodamine B with a low electric energy consumption of 5.19 kWh kg-1 COD under long-term reuse of bio-treated textile wastewater indicated that PEF-PbO2 was durable and energy-efficient in practical applications. Mechanism study by simulation calculation illustrated that the part of the pore of the PEF-PbO2's coating with small size (5 μm) plays an important role in this excellent performance which provides the advantage of rich ·OH concentration, short pollutant diffusion distance and high contact possibility.

Synergism of ozonation and electrochemical filtration during advanced organic oxidation

Here, we investigated the synergistic effect towards phenol degradation and mineralization between ozonation (O₃) and electrochemical filtration (ECF) using perforated titanium as cathode and porous carbon nanotube (CNT) networks as anode. A flow rate of 1.6 mL min^-1, 10 mM of sodium sulfate electrolyte, 1.0 mM of phenol (model aromatic compound), and an ozone dose of 12 mgO₃ L^-1 were used. Insight into the synergistic mechanism was achieved via carbon anode morphology characterization and phenol degradation kinetics analysis. Improved kinetic performance was observed for the combined process (O₃-ECF) as compared to the sum of the individual processes, not only towards phenol degradation (3.2-fold increase), but also towards phenol mineralization (2.2-fold increase). Scanning electron microscopy revealed a significant decrease of polymer formation and deposition on CNT after the hybrid O₃-ECF process as compared to the ECF alone. Voltage-dependent (0-2.5 V) ozone CNT functionalization was investigated at pH 7-11 to assist in elucidation of the synergistic mechanism. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated increases up to 26-fold in CNT oxygen content post-ozonation at pH 7 comparing to fresh CNT. Various potential O₃-ECF synergistic reaction mechanisms for organic aromatic oxidation and mineralization are discussed.

A chloride-radical-mediated electrochemical filtration system for rapid and effective transformation of ammonia to nitrogen

Water contamination from ammonia has recently became a global concern. Herein, a chloride-radical-mediated electrochemical filtration system has been developed towards effective and rapid conversion of ammonia to nitrogen (N₂). This continuous-flow system consists of a nanoscale tin oxide modified carbon nanotube (SnO₂-CNT) anode and a Pd-Cu co-modified Ni foam (Pd-Cu/NF) cathode. The SnO₂-CNT anode enables the Cl^- oxidation to a chloride radical (Cl) at a proper anode potential (e.g., 2.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl) without severe self-oxidation. The macro-porous Pd-Cu/NF cathode further reduces anodic by-products (e.g., NO₃^- and NO₂^-) to N₂. EPR and scavenging tests indicate that Cl was the dominant radical specie responsible for ammonia conversion. Anode potentials, chloride concentration, flow rate and solution pH were identified as key parameters affecting the overall conversion performance. The proposed continuous-flow system showed enhanced conversion kinetics as compared to the conventional batch reactor due to the convectively enhanced mass transport. This study provides new insight for the rational design of advanced continuous-flow systems towards ammonia decontamination from water bodies.

Electrocatalytic water treatment using carbon nanotube filters modified with metal oxides

This study examined the electrocatalytic activity of multi-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) filters for remediation of aqueous phenol in a sodium sulfate electrolyte. CNT filters were loaded with antimony-doped tin oxide (Sb-SnO₂; SS) and bismuth- and antimony-codoped tin oxide (Bi-Sb-SnO₂; BSS) via electrosorption at 2 V for 1 h and then assembled into a flow-through batch reactor as anode-cathode couples with perforated titanium foils. The as-synthesized pristine CNT filters were composed of 50-60-nm-thick tubular carbons with smooth surfaces, whereas the tubes composing the SS-CNT and BSS-CNT filters were slightly thicker and bumpy, because they were coated with SS and BSS particles ~50 nm in size. Electrochemical characterization of the samples indicated a positive shift in the onset potential and a decrease in the current magnitude in the modified CNT filters due to passivation and oxidation inhibition of the bare CNT filters. These filters exhibited a similar adsorption capacity for phenol (5-8%), whereas loadings of SS and BSS enhanced the degradation rate of phenol by ~1.5 and 2.1 times, respectively. In particular, the total organic carbon removal performance and mineralization efficiency of the BSS-CNT filters were approximately twice those of the bare CNT filters. The BSS-CNT filters also exhibited an enhanced oxidation of ferrocyanide [Fe^II(CN)₆^4-], which was not adsorbed onto the CNT filters. The enhanced electrocatalytic performance of the modified CNT filters was attributed to an effective generation of OH radicals. The surfaces of the filters were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy.