Abstract

Here, 100 mg L-1 of dissolved organic carbon of aromatics including chloromethoxyphenols were prepared by exposition of a mixture of guaiacol, syringol, and vanillin in 200 mM NaClO at pH 3.0 and 25 degrees C for 14 h and further degraded by electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) like anodic oxidation with electrogenerated H2O2 (AO-H2O2), electro-Fenton (EF), and photoelectro-Fenton (PEF). Electrolyses were performed with a cell containing either a Pt or boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode and an air-diffusion cathode at constant current density. Oxidants were hydroxyl radicals ((OH)-O-center dot) formed at the anode surface from water oxidation and in the bulk from Fenton's reaction between added Fe2+ and H2O2 generated at the cathode, as well as active chlorine species produced from the anodic oxidation of HClO. Oxychlorine ions like ClO3- using Pt and ClO3-+ClO4- using BDD were detected in the electrolyzed solutions. A poor mineralization was found using the Pt/air-diffusion cell, with increasing relative oxidation ability in the sequence AO-H2O2