Enhancement of Electrochemical Oxidation of Phenol in Aqueous Solutions Using Polyaniline Coated Graphite Electrode

This work investigates polyaniline coated graphite electrode (PCGE) for the electrochemical oxidation of phenol in aqueous solution. The influences of current density, supporting electrolyte (NaCl) concentration, phenol concentration and electrolysis time removal were investigated. The results showed that the removal efficiency of phenol increased with increasing the current density and NaCl concentration, whereas it was contrariwise related with initial concentration of phenol. It was detected that phenol and its byproducts were rapidly broken down in the presence of chloride ions. Galvanostatic technique was used for building the polyaniline layer over the graphite rode surface. According to the results, PCGE was an efficient electrode for the electrooxidation of phenol as 35% improvement of PCGE over bare graphite (BG) electrode was achieved. 27.5 kWh/m3 was required for 98% reduction in phenol concentration.