Abstract
► Anodic oxidation is an effective method for degrading o-nitrophenol. ► The effect of operating parameters on the degradation was investigated. ► The main intermediate products were determined by HPLC technique. ► A plausible degradation pathway of o-nitrophenol was proposed.
The electrochemical oxidation of pesticide, o-nitrophenol (ONP) as one kind of pesticide that is potentially dangerous and biorefractory, was studied by galvanostatic electrolysis using boron-doped diamond (BDD) as anode. The influence of several operating parameters, such as applied current density, supporting electrolyte, and initial pH value, was investigated. The best degradation occurred in the presence of Na2SO4 (0.05M) as conductive electrolyte. After 8h, nearly complete degradation of o-nitrophenol was achieved (92%) using BDD electrodes at pH 3 and at current density equals 60mAcm−2. The decay kinetics of o-nitrophenol follows a pseudo-first-order reaction. Aromatic intermediates such as catechol, resorcinol, 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene, hydroquinone and benzoquinone and carboxylic acids such as maleic glycolic, malonic, glyoxilic and oxalic, have been identified and followed during the ONP treatment by chromatographic techniques. From these anodic oxidation by-products, a plausible reaction sequence for ONP mineralization on BDD anodes is proposed.