Fundamental Study on the Electrochemical Decomposition of Organic Pollutants in Aqueous Solutions

The electrochemical decomposition for several kinds of organic pollutants such as diethylphthalate, naphthalene and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, which belong to the groups of endocrine disrupter chemicals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and artificial organic ligand, respectively, were investigated. The rate of electrochemical decomposition depends on the structure of these compounds and the material of the electrode. The electrochemical decomposition of these compounds with a constant current showed the higher efficiency by using a SnO2/Ti electrode than by a Pt/Ti electrode. The total organic carbon (TOC) in the solution containing each compound was also removed over 90%. Therefore, these compounds seem to be decomposed to carbon dioxide and water completely. Consequently, it was confirmed that the electrochemical decomposition method could be applied to a variety of organic pollutants under the relatively mild condition and with the higher efficiency.