TOC removal from laundry wastewater by photoelectrochemical process on Fe₂O₃ nanostructure

Abstract

Organic compounds in laundry wastewater were degraded by photoelectrochemical (PEC) and electrochemical (EC) processes on a mesoporous α-Fe₂O₃ nanostructured film. The applied voltage was between 1 and 3 V. The PEC process exhibited higher TOC removal rate than EC process for all testing conditions. The synthesized α-Fe₂O₃ electrodes remained stable over 3 h of operating time. Moreover, lumped kinetics was applied to model the TOC removal. The experimental data were successfully described by a binary model, which consists of both complete and partial oxidation. It was found that the applied voltage influenced the kinetics constants. The results can be applied to improve the current application of laundry water recycling at domestic level.

Keywords:

• Laundry wastewater
• α-Fe₂O₃
• Photoelectrochemical process
• TOC removal

Acknowledgment

The authors acknowledge funding from the Australian Awards Scholarship of Australian Government (OASIS ID. ST000D5F5).