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Electrochemical oxidation of Microcystis aeruginosa using a Ti/RuO2 anode: contributions of electrochemically generated chlorines and hydrogen peroxide

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Abstract

Electrochemical oxidation was proposed as a promising technology for algal control in drinking water treatment. To be effective, the electrogenerated oxidants should have long half-lives and could continually inhibit the growth of algae. In this study, we used the electrochemical system equipped with a Ti/RuO2 anode which focus on generating long half-life chlorines and H2O2. We explored the impact of electrical field and electrogenerated oxidants on algal inhibition, and we investigated the production of electrogenerated reactive species and their contributions to the inhibition of Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) in simulated surface water with low Cl− concentrations (< 18 mg/L). We developed a kinetic model to simulates the concentrations of chlorines and H2O2. The results showed that electrical field and electrogenerated oxidants were both important contributors to algal inhibition during electrochemical oxidation treatment. The Ti/RuO2 anode mainly generates chlorines and H2O2 from Cl− and water. During the electrolysis at current density of 20 mA/cm2, when initial Cl− concentrations increased from 0 to 18 mg/L (0–5.07 × 10−4 mol/L), the chlorines increased from 0 to 3.62 × 10−6 mol/L, and the H2O2 concentration decreased from 3.68 × 10−6 to 1.15 × 10−6 mol/L. Our model made decent predictions of other Cl− concentrations by comparing with experiment data which validated the rationality of this modeling approach. The electrogenerated chlorine species were more effective than H2O2 at an initial Cl− concentration of 18 mg/L.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 51309019 and 51379016), Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program by CAST (Grant 2015QNRC001), Technology Demonstration Project of the Ministry of Water Resources of China (SF-201602), and State-level Public Welfare Scientific Research Institutes Basic Scientific Research Business Project of China (CKSF2017062/SH). This work was also supported by the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech Hightower No. 1365802). The views and ideas expressed herein are solely of the authors and do not represent the ideas of the funding agencies in any form.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Basin Water Environmental Research Department, Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute, Wuhan, 430010, Hubei, China

    Li Lin, Qingyun Li & Zhuo Huang

  2. Key Lab of Basin Water Resource and Eco-Environmental Science in Hubei Province, Wuhan, 430010, Hubei, China

    Li Lin, Qingyun Li, Zhuo Huang & Jin Chen

  3. Brook Byers Institute of Sustainable Systems, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Li Lin, Xiaoyang Meng & John Crittenden

  4. School of Environmental Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China

    Linling Wang

  5. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai JiaoTong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Ke Lin

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  1. Li Lin
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Correspondence to Li Lin or Jin Chen.

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Responsible editor: Vítor Pais Vilar

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Lin, L., Meng, X., Li, Q. et al. Electrochemical oxidation of Microcystis aeruginosa using a Ti/RuO2 anode: contributions of electrochemically generated chlorines and hydrogen peroxide. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 27924–27934 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2830-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2830-4

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