Degradation of C.I. Reactive Dyes (Yellow 17 and Blue 4) by Electrooxidation

Abstract

Dyes are extensively used in textile industries which are responsible for different environmental problems. Conventional processes for effluent treatment are inefficient for the remediation of wastewaters containing toxic and bio recalcitrant organic pollutants. A large number of advanced oxidation processes (AOP’s) have been successfully applied to degrade pollutants present in wastewaters. This paper examines the use of electro oxidation (EO) process for the recalcitrant of the textile dye effluent. The dye effluent containing C-I Reactive Yellow 17 and Blue 4 was treated using Ti/ RuO2 and stainless steel electrodes. The experimental study focused on the effect of supporting electrolytes such as NaCl and Na2SO4. The degradation process was enhanced appreciably by increasing the concentration of supporting electrolytes at optimum current density of 7 A/dm2 (pH=11). Efficiencies of COD reduction, color removal were also determined. It was established that NaCl was superior to Na2SO4 in terms of COD reduction as well as decolorization. The degradation was characterized by HPLC, FTIR and UV-Vis spectral analysis.