Highly Efficient Degradation of Polyacrylamide by an Fe-Doped CeZrO Solid Solution/CF Composite Cathode in a Heterogeneous Electro-Fenton Process.

Polyacrylamide (PAM) in environmental water has become a major problem in water pollution management due to its high molecular mass, corrosion resistance, high viscosity, and nonabsorption by soil. The composite of Fe-doped CeZrO solid solution (Fe-CeZrO) loaded on carbon felt (CF) was fabricated by a hydrothermal synthesis method, which was used as the cathode in a heterogeneous electro-Fenton system for the degradation of PAM. It showed that the degradation efficiency of PAM by the Fe-CeZrO/CF cathode was 86% after 120 min and the molecular mass of PAM decreased by more than 90% after 300 min. Total organic carbon removal reached 78.86% in the presence of Fe-CeZrO/CF, while the value was only 38.01% in the absence of Fe-CeZrO. Further studies showed that the breaking of the chain begins with the amide bond, and then, the carbon chain was cracked into a short alkyl chain. As degradation progressed, both the complex viscosity and elasticity modulus of PAM solutions decreased nearly 50% at 300 min. It indicated that OH were the most significant active species for the degradation of PAM. This novel Fe-CeZrO/CF composite is an efficient and promising electrode for the removal of PAM in wastewater.