The Enhanced Effect of Bicarbonate Anion for the Removal of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid on a Palladium/Nickel-Foam Electrode
Palladium/nickel-foam (Pd/Ni) electrode is used as a typical efficient electrocatalytic electrode for the removal of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in surface water and industrial wastewater. Many researches had reported how to enhance the dechlorination efficiency of the Pd/Ni electrode by using less Pd loading. However, there are few reports of choosing a suitable electrolyte solution to improve the efficiency of dechlorination. Efforts were made in this work of the different catholyte influenced the dechlorination efficiency. The results showed the fastest removal efficiency of 2,4-D in 34 mmol/L NaHCO3 than in 34 mmol/L NaCl, 34 mmol/L NaClO4, 17 mmol/L Na2SO4 catholyte, respectively on Pd/Ni electrode with pd loading of 0.202 mg/cm2 at constant potential of -0.55 V (vs saturated calomel electrode). The dechlorination current efficiency (CE) was 20.5% in the 34 mmol/L NaHCO3 catholyte more than three times that in 17 mmol/L Na2SO4 catholyte for that HCO3- was the most likely source of protons for adsorbed active hydrogen (H*) in Pd active centers.