Cyanide Degradation by Direct and Indirect Electrochemical Oxidation in Electro-active Support Electrolyte Aqueous Solutions

The cyanide degradation was performed in an electrochemical reactor (with anode of reticulated vitreous carbon and cathodes of graphite) with three compartments separated by a polymeric membrane. The experiments were made under different conditions; supporting electrolytic media (NaOH, NaCl, NaNO3 and Na2SO4), applied potentials (3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 V) and volumetric flows of 130, 240, 480, 1058 and 1610 mL/min with recirculation. The best conditions for the cyanide degradation are: NaCl (0.1 M) as supporting electrolyte, applied cell potential of 5.0 V and volumetric flow of 480 mL/min. Under these conditions almost 100% of cyanide degradation was achieved.