Electrochemical degradation of linuron in aqueous solution using Pb/PbO 2 and C/PbO 2 electrodes

Two modified electrodes (Pb/PbO2 and C/PbO2) were prepared by electrodeposition and used as anodes for electrochemical degradation of linuron (phenylurea pesticide) in aqueous solu- tion. Different operating conditions and factors affecting the treatment process including current density, temperature, initial concentration of linuron, pH, conductive electrolyte and time of elec- trolysis were studied and optimized. The best degradation occurred in the presence of NaCl (1 gL � 1 ) as conductive electrolyte. After 30 min, nearly complete degradation of linuron was achieved (92% and 84%) using C/PbO2 and Pb/PO2 electrodes at pH 7 and 1.5, respectively. Higher degradation efficiency was obtained at low temperature (5-10 � C). The optimum current density for the degra- dation of linuron on both electrodes was (150 mAcm � 2 ).