Author(s)

A. Jakab, F. Manea, A. Pop, R. Pode, N. Vaszilcsin

Abstract

In the present study, carbon nanofibers-epoxy composite and TiO₂-modified carbon nanofibers-epoxy composite (TiO₂-CNF) electrodes were prepared by the two-roll mill procedure and characterized morpho-structurally and electrically in order to degrade pentachlorophenol (PCP) from water. Also, taking into account the dual character of the electrode material and electrochemical techniques, the composite electrodes were tested for PCP detection envisaging the degradation process control. Electrochemical and photoelectrochemical characterization of the electrodes was performed by cyclic voltammetry technique in 0.1 M Na₂SO₄ supporting electrolyte. The degradation process performance was assessed in terms of electrochemical efficiency and a great enhancement of about 25 times was achieved for the photoelectrochemical process in comparison with electrochemical one using TiO₂-CNF composite electrode. This electrode exhibited useful peculiarities for PCP detection application both under and without UV irradiation. The validity of the proposed CV-based protocol using a TiO₂-CNF composite electrode was determined by its application in the PCP degradation process control. Good accuracy was found by comparison with the results obtained by UV-VIS spectrophotometry.

Keywords

pentachlorophenol photoelectrooxidation, electrochemical detection, carbon nanofibers based composite electrode, advanced wastewater treatment