Photo-electrooxidation treatment of Acetaminophen in aqueous solution using BDD-Fe and BDD-Cu systems

ABSTRACT

In this study, acetaminophen (ACT) in aqueous solution was treated with electrooxidation and photo-electrooxidation processes (PEO). An electrochemical cell was used for the treatment of different concentrations of ACT (10, 50 and 80 mg L⁻¹). A 2³ factorial design was proposed, and the variables studied were current intensity 0.5 A (45.45 mA cm⁻²) and 1.0 A (90.91 mA cm⁻²), electrode configuration (anode:BDD, cathode:Fe or Cu) and presence/absence of UV light; NaCl 0.043 M (2.5 g L⁻¹) was used as supporting electrolyte, the initial pH was 5.5, and the treatment time was 3 h. The aqueous solutions were characterized before and after the treatment using infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), total carbon (TC), and fluorescence spectroscopy. The optimal operating conditions using an initial ACT concentration of 80 mg L⁻¹ were 1.0 A, BDD-Fe configuration and UV light (254 nm). The removal efficiencies were 100% of ACT and 82.75% of TOC after 15 min of treatment. At concentrations of 50 and 10 mg L⁻¹, 77.16% and 50.29% of TOC were removed after 10 and 5 min of treatment, respectively. Finally, the kinetic study showed an increase in the rate constants when the UV light was applied.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Electrooxidation
• photo-electrooxidation
• Acetaminophen (ACT)
• UV light
• BDD

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Secretary of Research and Advanced Studies of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico for the financial support granted through the research project 4967/2020/CIB and the scholarship for Sierra-Sánchez awarded by CONACyT.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México [grant number 4967-2020-CIB].