Electrochemical/chemical degradation of textile dyes Reactive Blue 19 and Reactive Black 5 using boron doped diamond electrodes and H2O2 electrogenerated in reticulated vitreous carbon electrode

The main problem involving the textile wastewater is theirs high coloration since they present dyes, which are chemically stable and can be toxic and/or carcinogenic. Therefore, when the textile wastewater are discarded in nature in the environment, even in low concentrations, they may cause not only aesthetic and environmental problems, but also can be harmful to human and animal health. In this context, the aim of the study was to evaluate the electrochemical degradation of two textile dyes, Reactive Blue 19 (RB-19) and Black 5 (RB-5) via Anodic Oxidation (AO) using as anodes Boron Doped Diamond electrodes (BDD) supported on titanium or niobium, via Electro-Fenton (EF) process and by combination of processes with electrogenerated H2O2 and AO (CP) using a Reticulated Vitreous Carbon electrode (RVC) as cathode. The degradations assays were carried out in an electrochemical cell with one compartment and in a filter-press flow reactor with two compartments. The efficiency of degradation was monitored by UV-VIS spectrophotometry, High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and analysis of Total Organic Carbon (TOC). The variables studied were current density (10-100 mA cm-2 for cell and 4-41 mA cm-2 for reactor), doping of the BDD/Ti electrodes (5,000 e 15,000 ppm B/C), initial concentration of the Fe2+ ions (0-0,10 mmol L-1) and dyes (10-250 mg L-1). The kinetic results showed that the removal of dyes followed the model of pseudo zero order; except when the RB-5 dye was degraded by EF process, which the best fitted was to pseudo first order model. Furthermore, for equal conditions the RB-5 was degraded in less time in comparison to the RB-19. In addition, the dyes were fully removed in all the processes studied. Regarding the AO in cell with BDD/Ti, the degradation was positively influenced by the increasing in current density and doping of the electrode, primarily the kinetics parameters. In addition, total removal of RB-19 and RB-5 was achieved in 35 and 50 min of electrolysis when 100 mA cm-2 was applied to the electrode doped with 15,000 ppm ratio B/C. In 2 h, 37% in mineralization was attained for both dyes and the toxicity effect of the RB-19 decreased against the bacteria Vibrio fischeri. In this condition, total TOC removed was also reached after 8 h. The TOC removal was enhanced using the reactor fitted with BDD/Nb and RVC instead of the electrochemical cell, achieving TOC removal of 84 and 82% in 30 and 90 min for RB-19 and RB-5 which were removed in 7.5 and 5 min, respectively, when 41 mA cm-2 was applied to the BDD/Nb in the degradation exclusively via AO. Among the processes carried out in the reactor, the EF was the energetically most favourable since TOC removal of 60 and 74% for RB-19 and RB-5 with energy consumption of 204 and 208 kWh kg-1 were noted. In addition, the RB-19 and RB-5 were completely removed in 15 and 7.5 min, respectively, when the electrolyte containing 0.10 mmol L-1 of Fe2+ ions and -0.4 V vs Ag/AgCl was applied to CVR electrode. The combination of processes with electrogenerated H2O2 and AO for degradation of the dyes removed the RB-19 and RB-5 in 30 and 15 min with mineralization of 71.6 and 81.8% in 90 min associated to energy consumptions of 562 and 745 kWh kg-1 respectively, when 41 mA cm-2 was applied to BDD/Nb. Therefore, the degradation results of the dyes were promised since quickly removal of the dyes and partial mineralization were observed hence the proposed processes could be used to remove the dyes from water. However, more studies are needed to enable an industrial application, especially regarding the electrode material and configuration of the electrochemical system. (AU)