Constant current-exponential attenuation mode: A non-traditional power supply mode for electrocatalytic oxidation

Low average current efficiency (ACE) and high energy consumption (EC) have seriously hindered the industrial development of electrocatalytic oxidation (ECO) technology. Timely adjustment of the current output according to the attenuation law of the organic pollutants concentration during the reaction process can help to solve the low electrical energy utilization problem at source. In this study, a non-traditional power supply mode with “constant current-exponential attenuation” (Mode CC-EA) was proposed and applied to intermittent ECO systems. The current is first output in a constant state and then attenuated exponentially according to the decreasing law of pollutants concentration, enabling efficient use of electrons at all stages of the reaction, resulting in increased degradation rates and ACE, and reduced EC. Acidic red G (ARG) was used as the target pollutant and the degradation effects of the traditional constant current mode (Mode CC), the direct exponential attenuation mode (Mode EA) and the Mode CC-EA were compared with different evaluation parameters. The results showed that the optimized Mode EA (n₄) and Mode CC-EA (70-n₁₁) degraded ARG with an ACE of 5.28 and 6.09%, respectively, which were 1.26 and 1.45 times higher than Mode CC (4.2%). At the same time, the EC were 0.36 and 0.27 kWh gCOD⁻¹, respectively, which were 12.2 and 34.2% lower than Mode CC (0.41 kWh gCOD⁻¹). The parameters of Mode CC-EA were further optimized and used for the degradation of three typical dye wastewaters, crystal violet (CV), methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO), to investigate their general applicability. The results showed that the optimized Mode CC-EA achieved higher decolorization rates, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) removal rates for the four wastewaters, including ARG, than Mode CC within 120 min for the same total input charge. The ACE of Mode CC-EA was on average 1.3 times higher than that of Mode CC, while the EC was on average 25.3% lower. Mode CC-EA achieves efficient use of electrical energy while ensuring the catalytic effect, which is of great application for the efficient treatment of dye wastewater and significance for the industrial development of ECO technology.