Electrochemical oxidation treatment of coal tar wastewater with lead dioxide anodes.

In this study, coal tar wastewater was treated by electrochemical oxidation technology using lead dioxide anodes. The influence of operating parameters, including applied current density, electrode gap and initial pH value, on the removal ratio of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was investigated. The results demonstrated that the COD removal ratio reached 90.5% after 3.5 h electrolysis with the current density at 3 A dm-2 and electrode gap at 1.0 cm. Correspondingly, the COD decreased from 5,125 mg L-1 to 487 mg L-1, which fitted the wastewater discharge standards of China, and the specific energy consumption (SECCOD) was 35.3 kWh kgCOD -1. Not only was the COD removal ratio only 77.1% after 2 h electrolysis but the BOD5/COD ratio of the wastewater reached 0.44, which could be biochemically treated, and the SECCOD decreased by 34.3%. Moreover, the main composition of pristine wastewater before and after 2 h electrolysis was analyzed by GC-MS, and the disappearance of macromolecules (such as ethyl-2-pyrenemethanol) and the production of small molecules (such as propane-1,3-diol) could improve the biodegradability of the wastewater. Therefore, electrochemical oxidation for 2 h is a promising alternative for pretreatment of coal tar wastewater prior to biological treatment.

Electrochemical degradation of vanillin using lead dioxide electrode: influencing factors and reaction pathways.

In this study, a novel PbO2-CeO2 composite electrode was applied it to the electrocatalytic degradation of vanillin. The operating parameters such as applied current density, initial vanillin concentration, supporting electrolyte concentration and pH value were investigated and optimised. After 120 min, in a 0.10 mol L-1 Na2SO4 solution with a current density of 50 mA cm-2 and a pH value of 5.0 containing 30 mg L-1 vanillin, the vanillin removal efficiency can reach 98.03%, the COD removal efficiency is up to 73.28%. The results indicate that electrochemical degradation has a high ability to remove vanillin in aqueous solution. The reaction follows a pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics model with rate constants of 0.03036 min-1. In the process of electrochemical degradation, up to eight hydroxylated or polyhydroxylated oxidation by-products were identified through hydroxylation, dealkylation and substitution reactions. Furthermore, the degradation pathways were proposed, which eventually mineralised into inorganic water and carbon dioxide.

Heterogeneous Ti/PbO2-electro-Fenton degradation of aromatic methane dyes using industrial pyrite waste slag as catalyst.

It is imperative to search the eco-friendly and cost-effective technologies for degrading contaminants. Coupling the effect of Ti/PbO2 at the anode with heterogeneous electro-Fenton was an efficient method. Industrial pyrite waste slag characterized by a variety of methods had catalytic performance and stable performance to activate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into hydroxyl radical (∙OH). Meanwhile, the processing conditions, the malachite green wastewater concentration, the current density, the pH range, and the dosage of industrial pyrite waste slag were emphatically optimized. Herein, the total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiency reached 97.70%, the mineralization current efficiency (MCE) was 0.392%, and the energy consumption (EC) was 1.942 kWh/m3 after 240 min. Heterogeneous Ti/PbO2-electro-Fenton using industrial pyrite waste slag as catalyst was an environmentally friendly technology and provided a recycling method with traditional wastes. Finally, catalytic mechanisms and possible pathways were represented according to the results of quantum chemistry calculations and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS).

Process optimization and mechanism study of acid red G degradation by electro-Fenton-Feox process as an in situ generation of H2O2.

Dye-contaminated wastewaters are industrial wastewaters that are difficult to treat using traditional biochemical and physicochemical methods. In the present work, the acid red G was removed as a model pollutant by the electro-Fenton process for the first time. The anode and cathode used by the electro-Fenton process were iron plate and graphite felt, respectively. It was concluded that under the optimal conditions of current density = 20 mA cm-2, pH = 3 and initial Na2SO4 concentration = 0.2 M, the removal rate of acid red G (ARG) with an initial concentration of 300 mg L-1 could reach 94.05% after 80 min of electrolysis. This reveals that the electro-Fenton-Feox process used in this work has an excellent removal efficiency on acid red G. The required reagents (Fe2+ and H2O2) were generated by the electrode reaction, while the optimal generation conditions and mechanism of •OH, H2O2, and Fe2+ were investigated. By testing •OH, H2O2, and Fe2+ agents at different pH and current densities, it was revealed that the electro-Fenton reaction was most efficient when the current density was 20 mA cm-2, and the pH was 3. Moreover, the removal rate of ARG is consistent with first-order reaction kinetics.

Discovery, Structural Optimization, and Mode of Action of Essramycin Alkaloid and Its Derivatives as Anti-Tobacco Mosaic Virus and Anti-Phytopathogenic Fungus Agents.

Plant diseases seriously affect crop yield and quality and are difficult to control. Marine natural products (MNPs) have become an important source of drug candidates with new biological mechanisms. Marine natural product essramycin (1) was found to have good anti-tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and anti-phytopathogenic fungus activities for the first time. A series of essramycin derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their bioactivity. Most of these compounds exhibited antiviral effects that are greater than that of the control ribavirin. Compounds 7e and 8f displayed antiviral activities that are greater than that of ningnanmycin (the most widely used antiviral agent at present), thus emerging as novel antiviral lead compounds. As the lead compound, 7e was selected for further antiviral mechanism research. The results indicated that 7e could inhibit virus assembly and promote 20S disk protein aggregation. Fungicidal activity tests against 14 kinds of phytopathogenic fungi revealed that essramycin analogues displayed broad-spectrum fungicidal activities. Compound 5b displayed more than 50% inhibition rate against most of the 14 kinds of phytopathogenic fungi at 50 µg/mL. The current research lays a solid foundation for the application of essramycin alkaloids in crop protection.

Electrochemical degradation of insecticide hexazinone with Bi-doped PbO2 electrode: Influencing factors, intermediates and degradation mechanism.

Electrochemical degradation of hexazinone in aqueous solution using Bi-doped PbO2 electrodes as anodes was investigated. The main influencing parameters on the electrocatalytic degradation of hexazinone were analyzed as function of initial hexazinone concentration, current density, initial pH value and Na2SO4 concentration. The experiment results showed that the electrochemical oxidization reaction of hexazinone fitted pseudo-first-order kinetics model. 99.9% of hexazinone can be decontaminated using Bi-doped PbO2 electrode as anode for 120 min. Comparing with pure PbO2 electrode, the Bi-doped PbO2 electrodes possess higher hexazinone and COD removal ratio, higher ICE and lower energy consumption in the electrocatalytic degradation process. The results revealed that electrochemical oxidation using Bi-doped PbO2 anodes was an efficient method for the elimination of hexazinone in aqueous solution. The electrocatalytic oxidization mechanism of hexazinone with Bi-doped PbO2 anode was discussed, then the possible degradation pathway of hexazinone with two parallel sub-routes was elucidated according to 15 intermediates identified using HPLC-MS.

Preparation and electrochemical treatment application of Ce-PbO2/ZrO2 composite electrode in the degradation of acridine orange by electrochemical advanced oxidation process.

Novel Ce-PbO2/ZrO2 composite electrodes were successfully fabricated in lead nitrate solution containing cerium ions and ZrO2 particles by composite electrodeposition method. SEM images and XRD results indicated that Ce-PbO2/ZrO2 composite electrodes have compact structure and fine grain size. Ce-PbO2/ZrO2 composite electrode has higher oxygen evolution overpotential and stability than Ce-PbO2 electrode. The service life of Ce-PbO2/ZrO2 composite electrode reaches 318 h, which is 4.2 times as that of Ce-PbO2 electrodes (74 h). The novel Ce-PbO2/ZrO2 composite electrode was employed as anode to decontaminate acridine orange (AO) by electrochemical oxidization methods. The effect of initial concentration of AO, current density, and initial pH values on the removal ratio of AO were analyzed. The results showed that AO could be completely removed after 90 min electrolysis under the optimal condition: initial AO concentration was 30 mg L-1, current density was 50 mA cm-2, and the initial pH value was 5.0. Moreover, the possible degradation pathway of AO was elucidated based on the identification of stable byproducts generated during the electrochemical degradation process by HPLC-MS, which revealed that AO and its byproducts could be effectively eliminated and mineralized into CO2, H2O, ammonium and nitrate ions.

Electrocatalytic degradation of the herbicide metamitron using lead dioxide anode: influencing parameters, intermediates, and reaction pathways.

In the present study, the electrocatalytic degradation of triazine herbicide metamitron using Ti/PbO2-CeO2 composite anode was studied in detail. The effects of the current density, initial metamitron concentration, supporting electrolyte concentration, and initial pH value were investigated and optimized. The results revealed that an electrocatalytic approach possessed a high capability of metamitron removal in aqueous solution. After 120 min, the removal ratio of metamitron could reach 99.0% in 0.2 mol L-1 Na2SO4 solution containing 45 mg L-1 metamitron with the current density at 90 mA cm-2 and pH value at 5.0. The reaction followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics model. HPLC and HPLC-MS were employed to analyze the degradation by-products in the metamitron oxidization process, and the degradation pathway was also proposed, which was divided into two sub-routes according to the different initial attacking positions on metamitron by hydroxyl radicals. Therefore, the electrocatalytic approach was considered as a very promising technology in practical application for herbicide wastewater treatment.

Electrocatalytic degradation of methylene blue on PbO2-ZrO2 nanocomposite electrodes prepared by pulse electrodeposition.

PbO2-ZrO2 nanocomposite electrodes (P) were prepared by pulse electrodeposition and used for the electrocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB). The SEM and XRD tests show that PbO2-ZrO2 nanocomposite electrodes (P) possess more compact structure and finer grain size than PbO2-ZrO2 nanocomposite electrodes (D) prepared by direct electrodeposition. The electrochemical measurements show that PbO2-ZrO2 nanocomposite electrodes (P) have higher oxygen evolution overpotential and the oxidation regions of MB and water are significantly separated. The experimental parameters on electrocatalytic degradation of MB by PbO2-ZrO2 nanocomposite electrodes (P) were evaluated, such as initial MB concentration, current density, pH value and supporting electrolyte concentration. The results indicate that MB and COD removal efficiency of PbO2-ZrO2 nanocomposite electrodes (P) reach 100% and 72.7%, respectively, after 120 min electrolysis at initial 30 mg L(-1) MB concentration at current density of 50 mA cm(-2) in 0.2 mol L(-1) Na2SO4 supporting electrolyte solution, and the degradation of MB follows pseudo-first-order kinetics. Compared with PbO2-ZrO2 nanocomposite electrodes (D), PbO2-ZrO2 nanocomposite electrodes (P) show higher COD removal efficiency and instantaneous current efficiency with MB degradation. The experimental results demonstrate that PbO2-ZrO2 nanocomposite electrodes (P) possesses the excellent electrocatalytic properties and show great potential applications in refractory pollutants.