Effect of Adsorption and Passivation Phenomena on the Electrochemical Oxidation of Phenol and 2-Chlorophenol at Carbon Black Diamond Composite Electrode

This work reports on the importance of adsorption and passivation phenomena during the electro-oxidation of phenolic mixture. A case study of the anodic oxidation of phenol and 2-chlorophenol was performed. A carbon black-diamond electrode with 20% carbon black (20CBD electrode) was used as the anode. The anodic oxidation behaviors of 100 mg/L phenol and 100 mg/L 2-chlorophenol on the 20CBD electrode were investigated using cyclic voltammetry in aqueous solutions of 0.25 M Na₂SO₄. The electrochemical impedance technique was used to investigate the effects of electrode passivation and the adsorption of phenol and 2-chlorophenol through the electrochemical degradation process. The results showed that oxidation of 2-chlorophenol was easier than that of phenol. Even in a 1:1 mixture of 2-chlorophenol and phenol, each at 100 mg/L, the removal rate of 2-chlorophenol was higher than that of phenol. After 6 h, up to 94% of the 2-chlorophenol had degraded, whereas only 20% of the phenol had degraded in the same time. The mass-transfer resistance of phenol was up to 10 times higher than that of 2-chlorophenol. Moreover, the passivation resistance generated on the electrode surface by phenol oxidation was also higher than that generated by 2-chlorophenol oxidation.