The degradation of 1,4 acetaminophen by electrocatalytic oxidation process and investigation the by-products of the system

Abstract

The study was aimed at using Ti/IrO2-RuO2 electrocatalytic electrodes for the purpose of removing 1,4 -acetamin-ophen from a solution. The electrooxidation process's efficiency was studied by controlling various parameters such as pH (3-11), current density (100-1000 A.m-2), electrolyte type (NaCl, Na2SO4, KCl), and conductivity (1.5-10 mS.cm-1). Additionally, H2O2 addition (100-1000 mu L), and acetaminophen concentration (25-100 ppm) were also studied. In addition, it was found that when the initial concentrations were increased from 25 ppm to 100 ppm, there was a corresponding increase in the removal efficiencies, which ranged from 27% to 36% at a current density of 350 A.m-2 and a conductivity of 3.5 mS.cm-1 for a period of 90 min. The removal efficiency increased from 30% to 42% when 0.5 mL of 30% H2O2 was added to the initial concentration of 50 ppm. The presence of chlorine ions in a solution has been demonstrated to result in the formation of oxidation products. This result has enabled researchers to investigate the toxic and disinfecting properties of the solution. The LC-MS spectra analysis revealed the formation of intermediate degradation products. The identification of these me-tabolites enabled the suggestion of their structure and degradation mechanism.