Treatment of Tebuthiuron in synthetic and real wastewater using electrochemical flow-by reactor

The inefficiency of conventional water treatment methods in the treatment of recalcitrant herbicides has led to the search for new, efficient and eco-friendly mechanisms for degrading these organic pollutants. Electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOP) have emerged as a promising alternative due to their high degree of efficiency in degrading organic pollutants. This work investigates the removal of Tebuthiuron (TBH) in synthetic and real wastewater using different EAOPs in a flow-by reactor. The degradation/mineralization experiments were performed using boron-doped diamond electrode as anode and gas-diffusion electrode (GDE) as cathode for the in situ electrogeneration of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). For the analysis conducted in synthetic medium, TBH degradation was found to fit well in a pseudo-first-order kinetic reaction with increasing k1 values according to the following order of efficiency: anodic oxidation (AO, 3.1 × 10−5 s−1)