In this study, a novel rotating anode-based reactor (RAR) was designed to investigate its effectiveness in removing dissolved salts (i.e., Br⁻, Cl⁻, TDS, and SO₄²⁻) from saline water samples. Two configurations of an impeller’s rotating anode with various operation factors, such as operating time (min), rotating speed (rpm), current density (mA/cm²), temperature (°C), pH, and inter-electrode space (cm), were used in the desalination process. The total cost consumed was calculated on the basis of the energy consumption and aluminum (Al) used in the desalination. In this respect, operating costs were calculated using optimal operating conditions. Salinity was removed electrochemically from saline water through electrocoagulation (EC). Results showed that the optimal adjustments for treating saline water were carried out at the following conditions: 150 and 75 rpm rotating speeds for the impeller’s rod anode and plate anode designs, respectively; 2 mA/cm² current density (I), 1 cm² inter-electrode space, 25 °C temperature, 10 min operation time, and pH 8. The results indicated that EC technology with impeller plates of rotating anode can be considered a very cost-effective technique for treating saline water.

Preoxidation of As(III) to As(V) is required for the efficient removal of total arsenic in the treatment of wastewater. In this work, the electro-Fenton oxidation of As(III) with a high efficiency was successfully achieved by using the system of the stainless steel net (SSN) coating with reduced graphene oxide (RGO@SSN) as the cathode and stainless steel net (SSN) as the sacrificial anode. The RGO@SSN was synthesized by electrophoretic deposition-annealing method. The carbon disorder and defects of RGO resulted from the remained oxygen-containing functional groups facilitated the electrocatalytically active sites for two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). A high concentration (up to 1000 μmol/L) of H₂O₂ was in-situ produced through two-electron oxygen reduction reaction of electro-catalysis, and then served as the electro-Fenton reagent for the oxidation of As(III). HO generated by H₂O₂ participating the electro-Fenton reaction or decomposed at the surface of RGO@SSN cathode at acid condition endowed the strong oxidizing ability for As(III). The electro-Fenton equipped with RGO@SSN cathode has a promising application in the oxidation and removal of organic or inorganic pollutants in wastewater.

Based on the application of sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC) in the bioremediation of sediment, this study used the sediment microbial fuel cell technology as the leading reactor. Modification of anode carbon felts (CF) by synthesis of PANI/MnO₂ composited to improve the electrical performance of the sediment microbial fuel cell. This study investigated the degradation effects, degradation pathways of the specific contaminant enrofloxacin and microbial community structure in sediment microbial fuel cell systems. The results showed that the sediment microbial fuel cell system with modified anode carbon felt (PANI-MnO₂/CF) prepared by in-situ chemical polymerization had the best power production performance. The maximum output voltage was 602 mV and the maximum power density was 165.09 mW m⁻². The low concentrations of enrofloxacin (12.81 ng g⁻¹) were effectively degraded by the sediment microbial fuel cell system with a removal rate of 59.52%.

The effects of fabric filters and desulfurization systems during secondary copper smelting on polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) concentrations, emission coefficients, and profiles were studied in an oxygen-rich smelting furnace and an anode furnace. In the anode furnace, the toxic equivalent (TEQ) concentration ranges were 0.106–1.04 ng World Health Organization (WHO)-TEQ/m³ at the fabric filters inlet and 0.027–0.17 ng WHO-TEQ/m³ at the outlet. For the oxygen-rich smelting furnace, the TEQ concentration ranges were 1.21–1.93 and 0.010–0.019 ng WHO-TEQ/m³ at the desulfurization system inlet and outlet, respectively. The TEQs in the outlet stack gases of the desulfurization system from the anode furnace were 0.0041–0.016 ng WHO-TEQ/m³. It is likely that PCDD/Fs that were taken away from the stack gases were adsorbed by the fly ash and gypsum. Solid residues were the dominant release routes for PCDD/Fs. PCDD/Fs congener and homologue profiles of stack gases from different smelting stages were similar. The contributions of more chlorinated homologues from the anode furnace decreased observably after the stack gases passed through the fabric filters. However, the desulfurization process did not greatly change the PCDD/Fs homologue profiles. Overall, both the fabric filters and desulfurization systems showed excellent removal efficiencies for PCDD/Fs in the stack gases, which reduced the TEQ emissions to well below the 0.5 ng WHO-TEQ/m³ to achieve standard discharge.

Water pollution by microplastics (MPs) is a contemporary issue which has recently gained lots of attentions. Despite this, very limited studies were conducted on the degradation of MPs. In this paper, we reported the treatment of synthetic mono-dispersed suspension of MPs by using electrooxidation (EO) process. MPs synthetic solution was prepared with distilled water and a commercial polystyrene solution containing a surfactant. In addition to anode material, different operating parameters were investigated such as current intensity, anode surface, electrolyte type, electrolyte concentration, and reaction time. The obtained results revealed that the EO process can degrade 58 ± 21% of MPs in 1 h. Analysis of the operating parameters showed that the current intensity, anode material, electrolyte type, and electrolyte concentration substantially affected the MPs removal efficiency, whereas anode surface area had a negligible effect. In addition, dynamic light scattering analysis was performed to evaluate the size distribution of MPs during the degradation. The combination of dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, total organic carbon, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy results suggested that the MPs did not break into smaller particles and they degrade directly into gaseous products. This work demonstrated that EO is a promising process for degradation of MPs in water without production of any wastes or by-products.

The high toxicity and persistence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the environment demands the development of effective remediation for PCBs-contaminated soils. In this study, electrokinetic (EK) remediation integrated with iron-carbon material (Fe/C) was established and used to remediate PCB28 (1 mg kg⁻¹) contaminated soil under a voltage gradient of 1 V cm⁻¹. Effects of Fe/C dosage, soil type, and remediation time were investigated. The operational condition was optimized as 4 g kg⁻¹ Fe/C, yellow soil, and 14 d-remediation, achieving PCB28 removal efficiency of 58.6 ± 8.8% and energy utilization efficiency of 146.5. Introduction of EK-Fe/C did not significantly affect soil properties except for slight soil moisture content increase and total Fe content loss. Soil electrical conductivity exhibited an increasing trend from anode to cathode attributed to EK-induced electromigration and electroosmosis. EK accelerated the corrosion and consumption of reactive Fe⁰/Fe₃C in Fe/C by generating acid condition. Fe/C in turn effectively prevented EK-induced soil acidification and maintained soil neutral to weak alkaline condition. A synergistic effect between EK and Fe/C was revealed by the order of PCB28 removal efficiency-EK-Fe/C (58.6 ± 8.8%) > EK (37.7 ± 1.6%) > Fe/C (6.8 ± 5.0%). This could be primarily attributed to EK and Fe/C enhanced Fenton reaction, where EK promoted Fe/C dissolution and H₂O₂ generation. In addition to oxidation by Fenton reaction generated ·OH, EK-mediated electrochemical oxidation, Fe/C-induced reduction and migration of Fe/C adsorbed PCBs were all significant contributors to PCB28 removal in the EK-Fe/C system. These findings suggest that the combination of EK and Fe/C is a promising technology for remediation of organics-contaminated soil.

Pore water is a crucial storage medium and a key source of sediment phosphorus. A novel equipment based on electrokinetic geosynthetics (EKGs) was used for isolating phosphorus from eutrophic lake sediments through pore water drainage. Three mutually independent indoor group experiments (A, B, and C) were conducted to investigate the effects of voltage gradient (0.00, 0.25, and 0.50 V/cm) on pore water drainage capacity, phosphorus removal performance, sediment physicochemical properties, and phosphorus storage dynamics. The average reduction in the sediment moisture and total phosphorus content was 2.5%, 4.3%, and 4.6% and 28.15, 75.95, and 112.65 mg/kg after 6 days of treatment for A, B and C, respectively. Efficient pore water drainage through gravity and electroosmotic flow and electromigration of phosphate were the main drivers of sediment-dissolved and mobilized phosphorus separation. A high voltage gradient facilitated the migration of pore water and the phosphorus in it. The maximal effluent total phosphorous (TP) concentration was up to 27.9 times that in the initial pore water samples, and negligible effluent TP was detected when the pore water pH was less than 2.5. The TP concentration was exponentially and linearly related to the pH and electronic conductivity of the electroosmotic flow, respectively. The migration of H⁺ within the sediment matrix promoted the liberation of metals bounded to phosphorus, particularly of Ca–P and Fe–P. Pore water drainage through an EKG resulted in Ex–P separation of up to 87.50% and a 13.84 mg/kg decrease in Ca–P and 125.35 mg/kg accumulation of low mobile Fe–P in the weak acid anode zone.

Terbuthylazine (TBA) has replaced atrazine in many EU countries, becoming one of the most frequently detected pesticides in natural waters. TBA is a compound of emerging concern, due to its persistence, toxicity and proven endocrine disruption activity to wildlife and humans. Techniques applied in water treatment plants remove only partially this herbicide and poor attention is given to the generation and fate of by-products, although some of them have demonstrated an estrogenic activity comparable to atrazine. This paper summarizes the environmental occurrence of TBA and its main metabolite desethylterbuthylazine and reports the performance of an innovative electrochemical cell equipped with a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) sandwiched between a Ti/RuO₂ cathode and a Boron-Doped Diamond anode, operating at constant current, in the treatment of an aqueous solution of TBA. The herbicide removal in the first 30 min of treatment increases from 42% to 92% as the applied current is increased from 100 to 500 mA. The rate of degradation at 500 mA decreases between 30 and 60 min, with a final abatement of 97%. An 89% removal was reached at 100 mA when the initial TBA concentration was raised from 0.1 to 4 mg L⁻¹ and less than 1% of the herbicide was converted in desethylterbuthylazine and minor metabolites. No chemicals are needed, no sludge is produced. Further research is encouraged, as this technology may be promising for the achievement of a zero-discharge removal of different emerging pollutants as pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products.

Synthetic azo dyes are extensively used in the textile industries, which are being released as textile effluent into the environment presence of azo dyes in the environment is great environmental concern therefore treatment of textile effluent is crucial for proper release of the effluent into the environment. Electrochemical oxidation (EO) is extensively used in the degradation of pollutants because of its high efficiency. In this study, photo-assisted electrooxidation (PEO) followed by biodegradation of the textile effluent was evaluated. The pretreatment of textile effluent was conducted by EO and PEO in a tubular flow cell with TiO₂–Ti/IrO₂–RuO₂ anode and titanium cathode under different current densities (10, 15, and 20 mA cm⁻²). The chemical oxygen demand level reduced from 3150 mg L⁻¹ to 1300 and 600 mg L⁻¹under EO and PEO, respectively. Furthermore, biodegradation of EO and PEO pretreated textile effluent shows reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) from 1300 mg L⁻¹ to 900 mg L⁻¹and 600 mg L⁻¹to 110 mg L⁻¹, respectively. The most abundant genera were identified as Acetobacter, Achromobacter, Acidaminococcus, Actinomyces, and Acetomicrobium from the textile effluent. This study suggests that an integrated approach of PEO and subsequent biodegradation might be an effective and eco-friendly method for the degradation of textile effluent.

In this work, the novel technology was used to remove heavy metal from sludge. The coupled with biodegradable ethylenediamine disuccinic acid (EDDS) and approaching anode electrokinetic (AA-EK) technique was used to enhance heavy metal removing from sludge. Electric current, sludge and electrolyte characteristics, heavy metal removal efficiency and residual content distribution, and heavy metal fractions percentage of variation were evaluated during the electrokinetic remediation process. Results demonstrated that the coupled with EDDS and AA-EK technique obtain a predominant heavy metal removal efficiency, and promote electric current increasing during the enhanced electrokinetic remediation process. The catholyte electrical conductivity was higher than the anolyte, and electrical conductivity of near the cathode sludge achieved a higher value than anode sludge during the coupled with EDDS and AA-EK remediation process. AA-EK technique can produce a great number of H⁺, which caused the sludge acidification and pH decrease. Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb, Ni and Mn obtain the highest extraction efficiency after the coupled with EDDS and AA-EK remediation, which were 52.2 ± 2.57%, 56.8 ± 3.62%, 60.4 ± 3.62%, 47.2 ± 2.35%, 53.0 ± 3.48%, 54.2 ± 3.43%, respectively. Also, heavy metal fractions analysis demonstrated that the oxidizable fraction percentage decreased slowly after the coupled with EDDS and AA-EK remediation.