Effect of dye chemical structure on the efficiency
of photoassisted electrochemical degradation using
a cathode containing carbon nanotubes
and a Ti/RuO
2
anode
Alireza Khataee
•
Behrouz Vahid
•
Amaneh Akbarpour
•
Soheil Aber
Received: 9 February 2014 / Accepted: 21 May 2014 / Published online: 22 June 2014
Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Abstract In this research, photoassisted electrochemical degradation of 13 com-
mercial dyes with various chemical structures and substituent groups was investi-
gated using a cathode containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and a titanium/
ruthenium oxide (Ti/RuO
2
) anode. The inner and outer diameters of the CNTs and
their stabilization on carbon paper support were confirmed by transmission electron
microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. All
experiments were carried out in identical operating conditions using a recirculation
system under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. The dyes with electron-releasing
groups (e.g., amino, hydroxyl, and acetamido) were more degraded than those
containing electron-withdrawing groups (e.g., sulfo, sulfonyl, and halo) due to
inductive and/or resonance effects. Moreover, the obtained results reveal that the
degradation process follows pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the degradation effi-
ciency was evaluated as the electrical energy per order.
Keywords Carbon nanotubes Á Electrochemical degradation Á Ti/RuO
2
Á Anodic
oxidation Á Organic dyes Á Decolorization
A. Khataee (&) Á A. Akbarpour
Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of
Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
e-mail: a_khataee@tabrizu.ac.ir; ar_khataee@yahoo.com
B. Vahid
Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Technology and Engineering, Tabriz Branch,
Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
S. Aber
Research Laboratory of Environmental Protection Technology, Department of Applied Chemistry,
Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
123
Res Chem Intermed (2015) 41:6073–6085
DOI 10.1007/s11164-014-1723-5
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