Electrochemical treatment of textile wastewater using copper electrodes

Abstract

The conventional electrode aluminum used in electrocoagulation (EC) for the textile wastewater undergoes pitting type of corrosion, so dissolution of the same is very high during electrolysis. This research focuses on the treatment of real-time textile effluent with copper electrodes that corrode uniformly during electrolysis, with optimizing operating parameters for high color removal efficiency (CRE%). The sludge acquired was analyzed by XPS and XRD to study the mechanism of dye removal. The treated effluent was subjected to phytotoxicity analysis using Vigna radiata to study the toxicity effect of the intermediary products. 98.6% of CRE was attained in treating the effluent with copper electrodes. XPS and XRD results showed that both Cu(OH)₂ and CuO served as coagulants in the dye removal. The phytotoxicity results showed that the percentage of germination, shoot and root lengths of Vigna radiata in the treated effluent were similar to the results obtained for the control.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Effluent
• removal efficiency
• copper electrode
• toxicity
• reuse

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the support they received throughout their research from the Department of Applied Chemistry and Water Institute, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.