ELECTROCHEMICAL TREATMENT OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY WASTEWATER USING STEEL AND TIRUO2 ELECTRODES

Abstract

The treatment of chemical industry wastewater by an electrochemical method was investigated using steel and TiRuO2 electrodes. Visible-UV spectrophotometric analyses have been performed in samples electrolyzed at 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 min to determine the molecular changes in the wastewater. Although the steel electrode caused changes in molecules present in the raw effluent, the TiRuO2 electrode showed to promote more significant changes. It has been observed an increase in the cellular viability after electrolysis; this could be a decrease in the biological toxicity after the treatment. The electrolytic process is an efficient method to modify persistent molecules, normally, found in wastewater of rubber chemical industry and, turn then biocompatible to the environment.