Study of Methylene Blue Degradation Using Mediated Electrochemical Oxidation With Ce (IV) Ions: Effect of Supporting Electrolyte, Ce (III) Concentration, and Oxidation Potential

Abstract

Methylene Blue (MB) is a dye commonly used in the textile industry. Dyes waste from the textile industry harms the ecosystem of the environment. One method of textile dye waste degradation is mediated electrochemical oxidation. This method uses an oxidation-reduction process using metal ion as a mediator. The mediator metal ions act as an oxidizer which oxidizes textile dyes waste into simpler compounds. The mediator ion used in this study was Ce (IV) in acidic. The results of degradation were analyzed using voltammetry method. This study used carbon paste electrode as working electrode, platinum wire as auxiliary electrode, and Ag/AgCl as reference electrode. The results of the cyclic voltammogram showed that the oxidation potential of MB is 0.2880 V while Ce(III)/Ce(IV) in H2SO4 has oxidation and reduction potentials 1.2400 V and 0.4520 V. This potential indicates that MB oxidation potential was not disturbed by mediator ion potential. The optimum condition of degradation was obtained at 250 ppm MB with 0.015 M Ce(III) and 0.2 M H2SO4 for 30 minutes using the potential of 6 V.