Issue
Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering,
Vol.40, No.9, 2219-2238, 2023
Rhodamine B dye degradation by fabricated Ti/RuO2 anode: Optimization by RSM, reaction mechanism, study of sludge
Textile wastewater was treated by an electrochemical process using Ti/RuO2 as anode and stainless steel as a cathode. Textile wastewater contains harmful dyes that can be broken down into simpler products like CO2 and H2O using the electro-oxidation process. For this process, a dimensional stable anode (Ti/RuO2) was fabricated using sol-gel method. Apreo field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) with energy dispersed x-ray (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) has been done to study their characteristics. Design expert software was used to optimize the parameters using response surface methodology. Response parameters such as pH (2-10), current (0.5-2 A), initial concentration (50-200 mg/L), and time (2-15 min) were varied, and 30 sets of experiments were designed. The optimized value obtained for maximizing the dye degradation percentage and COD removal per centage is at initial pH of 3.3, current of 0.5 A, initial concentration of 50 mg/L, and time of 9.4 min for dye degrada tion of 99.82%, COD removal of 82.50% removal, and 1.81 kWh/m3 energy consumption (minimum) keeping 0.2 M NaCl electrolyte as constant. Kinetic study shows that the reaction is first order. The mechanism of the process was also studied using UPLC-QTOF. The total cost of the process was found to be ₹582.79 or $7.68. Characterization of the sludge was also done to check its reusability.