Aerated iron electrocoagulation process as an emerging treatment method for natural water and wastewater

ABSTRACT

Aerated iron electrocoagulation is an emerging field of water and wastewater treatment. In comparison with the conventional electrocoagulation process, aerated iron electrocoagulation process has higher pollutant removal efficiency and has the ability to generate oxidants like ferryl ions, which are able to oxidize the pollutants such as arsenite and organic compounds effectively. In addition, carbon-based materials used as cathodes (instead of iron) in aerated electrocoagulation process (the process is also known as peroxi-coagulation) offer significant advantages in modified electrocoagulation studies, since they are non-corrosive and inert. Peroxi-coagulation is able to generate oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radicals, in addition to ferryl ions in aerated iron electrocoagulation process. For this reason, the uses of carbon-based materials such as graphite, and carbon nanotubes, as electrode materials are evaluated within the scope of the study.

KEYWORDS:

• Aerated electrocoagulation
• electrochemical water and wastewater treatment
• carbonaceous cathode
• peroxi-coagulation

Acknowledgments

PVN is thankful to the Director, CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur, India for providing encouragement, and kind permission for publishing the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Statement of novelty and significance

One of the electrochemical treatment methods, electrocoagulation processes gained much confidence and it has been implemented in real-field for the removal of various water contaminants. Iron and aluminum are the preferred electrode materials in electrocoagulation process. It has been proven that iron electrocoagulation is able to generate oxidants in the presence of dissolved oxygen and is advantageous over aluminum electrocoagulation. Aerated iron electrocoagulation is an emerging field of water and wastewater treatment. In comparison with the conventional electrocoagulation process, aerated iron electrocoagulation process has higher pollutant removal efficiency and has the ability to generate oxidants like ferryl ions, which are able to oxidize the pollutants effectively. Besides, carbon-based materials used as cathodes (instead of iron) in aerated electrocoagulation process (the process is also known as peroxicoagulation) offer significant advantages in modified electrocoagulation studies, since they are non-corrosive and inert. For this reason, the uses of carbon-based materials such as graphite, carbon nanotubes, and gas diffusion electrodes as electrode materials are evaluated within the scope of the study.

Carbon-based materials are non-corrosive and inert, and they may offer significant advantages in electrocoagulation treatment. The advantages of carbon-based materials are evaluated in this review. New modifications of electrochemical processes in water and wastewater treatment applications have been investigated and innovations for environmental applications have been introduced.