Enhanced electrocatalytic oxidation of dyes in aqueous solution using cobalt phthalocyanine modified activated carbon fiber anode

Cobalt tetra（2,4-dichloro-1,3,5-triazine）aminophthalocyanine （CoPc） was immobilized covalently on activated carbon fiber （ACF） felt to obtain CoPc-modified ACF （CoPc-ACF） catalyst, and an electrocatalytic oxidation system using CoPc-ACF as the anode was constructed. The electrocatalytic oxidation of Acid Red 1 （ARI） was investigated in aqueous solution by an UV-vis spectrophotometer and UPLC. The results indicated that AR1 could be eliminated efficiently in this electrocatalytic oxidation system. In addition, the results of FTIR, TOC and GC-MS suggested that the electrocatalytic oxidation experienced the decoloration achieved by destroying the azo linkage and the further mineralization due to the cleavages of benzene ring and naphthalene ring. The intermediates were mainly small molecular compounds such as maleic acid and succinic acid, etc. Re- petitive tests showed that CoPc-ACF can maintain high electrocatalytic activity over several cycles. The further EPR spin-trap experiments indicated that the hydroxyl radicals did not dominate the reaction in this electrocatalytic system, which was com- pletely different from the traditional electro-Fenton system. Based on the non-radical reaction mechanism, the CoPc-modified ACF electrocatalyst has potential application in treating actual dyestuffs wastewaters, which are accompanied with high concentration of hydroxyl radical scavengers such as chlorine ions and additives in the textile printing and dyeing industry.