Elucidation of a mechanism for the heterogeneous electro-fenton process and its application in the green treatment of azo dyes.

Vast efforts are directed today toward the development of efficient, green methods for the degradation of toxic compounds, especially those that are water-soluble. Though Fenton reactions are commonly used in wastewater treatment, their mechanisms and the active species involved remain obscure due to their mechanistic complexity. In this work, the mechanism of an electro-Fenton reaction, in which a FeLaO catalyst was entrapped in a sol-gel matrix, was studied in the presence of azo dyes as the model for toxic compounds.