STUDY ON ELECTROCHEMICAL DEGRADATION OF FULVIC ACID BY Ti-BASED PbO2 ANODE

Fulvic acid (FA) is a major precursor of disinfection byproducts existing in surface water as natural organic matters. It is essential to control the concentration of fulvic acid in surface water. Using FA as a target pollutant, electrochemical oxidation was carried out using a PbO2 anode and a Cu or stainless steel cathode. The higher performance of electrochemical process in a PbO2/Cu cell was demonstrated. The influencing factors including electrolysis time, cell potential, electrolyte concentration and pH on TOC removal of fulvic acid in a PbO2/Cu cell were examined. Results showed that the degradation efficiency of TOC could approach 100% under the optimized condition. The electrochemical degradation of FA followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic model, and the rate constants were well linear with respect to the initial concentration of FA.