Electrochemical Dechlorination of 2-Chlorophenol on Ti-Ni, Ti-Pd and Ti-Ni-Pd Electrodes

Chlorophenols are involved in the manufacture of different compounds as antiseptics, herbicides among others. Unfortunately, the presence of chlorophenols in wastewater of these industries has been detected. Chlorophenols have been listed as priority pollutants by The United State Envionmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Nowadays, the accumulation of chlorinated aromatic compounds in the environment represents an urgent problem to be solved [1].The chlorophenols are resistant physical, chemical or biological treatments and have hazardous impact on living organisms including human beings. Electrochemical dechlorination can be explored as pretreatment of chlorophenol degradation, because it is a promising method for its various advantages: low equipment cost, mild reaction conditions, and produces no pollutants [2]. In this work, nickel-titanium, palladium-titanium and nickel-palladium-titanium alloy cathodes were used for electrochemical dechloration of 2-chlorophenol. The cathodes were prepared by electrodeposition where the experimental conditions were determined from both a thermodynamic study using Predominance Existence and distribution species diagrams, and voltammetric study. The electrodes were characterized by SEM, XRD and XPS. The efficient dechloration of 2-chorophenol was achieved in the electrochemical conditions where the atomic hydrogen adsorption produced for water reduction takes place. The dechloration was performed in a filter press electrochemical reactor FM01-LC. The effluents from electrochemical treatment will be treated in a biological reactor containing denitrifying sludge.   

Acknowledgements: Miguel Arellano acknowledges the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) by PhD grant.

References

1. Sun Z., Ge H., Hu X., Peng Y. Chem. Eng. Technol. 32, 134. (2009)
2. Chen, G., Wang, Z. Y., Xia, D. G. Electrochem. Commun. 6, 268. (2004)