Electrochemical regeneration of activated carbon cloth exhausted with bentazone.

The electrochemical regeneration of an activated carbon cloth exhausted with a common herbicide (bentazone) was investigated under different operating conditions. The reversibility of the desorption process was confirmed by monitoring the UV spectra of the solution while cathodic polarization is being applied. Neither nanotextural nor chemical changes are produced in the carbon cloth upon polarization in the absence of the adsorbate. Upon cathodic polarization of a carbon cloth working electrode preloaded with bentazone, negative charges appear on the surface. A partial bentazone desorption results from repulsive electrostatic interactions between the negative charges on the carbon cloth and bentazone. When the electrode potential is below the thermodynamic value for cathodic decomposition of water, hydroxyl ions are liberated. Such ions provoke local pH changes that are responsible of the dissociation of bentazone and carbon surface groups to their anionic form. As a consequence of the pH increase, an almost reversible desorption of bentazone is observed. The effects of several operating parameters on the regeneration efficiency were evaluated. Higher regeneration efficiencies were attained under potentiostatic as compared to galvanostatic conditions, as OH- production strongly depends on the applied potential.