Electrochemical degradation of Orange G in K2SO4 and KCl medium

In this work, a detailed study on the electrochemical degradation of an azo dye, Orange G is performed using a platinum electrode. Indeed, the influence of the dye concentration (50-150 mg/L), the pH of the medium and the density of the electric current is studied on the rate of discoloration, the rate of mineralization, the efficiency of the electric current and the energy consumption. The UV-visible spectra of OG plotted against the degradation time show the decrease of the intensity of the characteristic dye peaks. In an environment rich in chlorides, all peaks disappear after 15 min of degradation. However, the peaks at wavelengths of 200 and 290 nm appeared after one hour of treatment. In K2SO4, the eliminated percentages are respectively 46, 54 and 61% for wavelengths of 245, 330 and 480 nm. This suggests that the degradation mechanisms in K2SO4 and KCl environments are not the same. In the middle rich in chlorides, the eliminated percentage of OG did not seem to be affected by the concentrations increase. These results confirm the hypothesis that electrochemical oxidation process is very favorable for concentrated pollutants discharge.