Advanced electrochemical oxidation of methyl parathion at boron-doped diamond electrodes

Abstract

Plaguicide pollution is a major problem in agricultural zones due to their intensive use to attain increased crop yields. In the present work commercial methyl parathion (MP), was electrochemically degraded in a divided H-type cell equipped with two boron doped diamond electrodes, BDDE and a Nafion cation exchange membrane. High removals (i.e., > 90%) of total organic carbon, TOC and of chemical oxygen demand, COD were obtained after 180 min at a current density, j of 5 mA/cm2 with specific energy consumption, Esp of ca. 200 kWh per kg of COD degraded. These results show that the anodic oxidation route may be an efficient alternative for MP degradation in polluted waters.