A multi-walled carbon nanotube electrode based on porous Graphite-RuO2 in electrochemical filter for pyrrole degradation

A novel electrochemical filter has been prepared for the effective adsorption and electrochemical oxidation of aqueous organic pollutants. The adsorptive electrode utilized in the electrochemical filter was a porous Graphite-RuO 2 electrode decorated with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) adsorption layer, which was prepared by sol–gel coating, thermal decomposition, and vacuum filtration synthesis. The morphology and composition of adsorptive electrode characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed a uniform distribution of RuO 2 active coating and MWCNTs adsorption layer. Electrochemical measurements indicated that the adsorptive electrode possessed a favorable oxygen evolution potential (OEP) of 1.42 V and inner voltammetric charge 170.05 mC·cm −2 , which were higher than that of non-MWCNTs electrode. Furthermore, the mass transfer of adsorptive electrode was enhanced as high as 4.6-fold in the electrochemical filter. The optimal operation parameters obtained was 3 mA·cm −2 and 7 g·L −1 Na 2 SO 4 . Under this condition, the electrochemical filter can remove > 97% of pyrrole and >75% of total organic carbon. The pyrrole oxidation mechanism of electrochemical filter was also investigated, revealed three dominant reaction stages: adsorption (≤0.3 V), direct oxidation (0.3–1.2 V) and indirect oxidation (>1.2 V). In general, the high electrochemical performance of Graphite-RuO 2 -MWCNTs filter on pyrrole removal resulted from the enhanced mass transfer, which attributed to the synergistic effect of adsorption from MWCNTs, electrochemical oxidation and convection by filtration.