Electrochemical Degradation of Methyldopa on a Fe Doped PbO2 Electrode: Electrode Characterization, Reaction Kinetics and Energy Demands

The electrochemical degradation of methyldopa in aqueous solution using a Fe-PbO2 electrode was systematically investigated. In contract with the traditional undoped PbO2 electrode, the constructed Fe-PbO2 electrode displayed a more compact structure with smaller crystal size, accompanying with larger electrochemically active surface area and higher electrochemical activity. The effects of operational parameters were studied, and according to the degradation efficiency and energy efficiency, the relative optimal experimental conditions were identified as electrolyte concentration 0.1 mol/L, current density 30 mA/cm2, initial methyldopa concentration 800 mg/L and initial pH 3. The EE/O values were calculated among all the experiments, providing the economic evaluation for the treatment of organic pollutants using electrochemical oxidation method. Kinetic investigations demonstrated that the degradation of methyldopa followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic model.