A hybrid electrochemical advanced oxidation/microfiltration system using BDD/Ti anode for acid yellow 36 dye wastewater treatment

Abstract Conductive diamond is an excellent electrode material due to its resistance to corrosion, wide potential window, and mechanical stability. Diamond doped with boron (BDD) as the anode in electrooxidation (EO) reactor to degrade trace but refractory pollutants from wastewater has received enormous attention recently. In this study, an innovative BDD/Ti electrooxidation–microfiltration (EO/MF) hybrid system was designed and tested for simultaneous removal of refractory organics and particles in dye wastewater. The system was fabricated in a tubular fashion with BDD/Ti as the anode, stainless steel (SS) as the cathode, and a ceramic membrane in between for filtration practice. The synthetic dye wastewater contained acid yellow 36 (AY-36) as the model organic pollutant while kaolin was added to make up the particles in the suspension. The experiments were operated in a continuous up-flow mode at pH 3 with a current density of 30 mA/cm 2 . A complete COD removal and more than 90% removals of color and turbidity from the dye wastewater were achieved, suggesting that particles can be removed via MF would not hinder the performance of EO. In conclusion, the single stage hybrid system of BDD/Ti–EO/MF can be a potent treatment process for dye wastewater.