Decolorization of C. I. Reactive Orange 4 and Textile Effluents by Electrochemical Oxidation Technique using Silver-Carbon Composite Electrode.

In this study, the electrochemical oxidation of C. I. Reactive Orange 4 (RO4) on a silver-carbon composite (AgC-PVC) electrode was studied using the cyclic voltammetry, potential liner V, and electrolysis methods. The AgC-PVC electrode was used as the working electrode in the electrochemical measurement of RO4 in the presence of NaCl as a supporting electrolyte. The UV-Vis spectra of RO4 after the electrochemical oxidation showed the complete decolorization of the solution. The electrolysis products were characterized using FTIR and GC-MS. The results showed that in the presence of OCl- as an active oxidant, RO4 molecules are broken down into several lower-molecular-weight molecules by the electrochemical technique. The electrode used was also able to reduce the COD, BOD(5) and surfactant contents in the textile effluents using a pilot scale reactor. This proved that the prepared AgC-PVC electrode was beneficial for removing both the color and other pollutants from textile effluents.