Iron-carbon microelectrolysis for wastewater remediation: Preparation, performance and interaction mechanisms

Rapid industrialization and urbanization have produced a lot of hazardous substances in water and wastewater, which has turned into a crucial issue to the environment and the public health. Recently, iron carbon microelectrolysis (IC-ME) has attracted extensive attention in environmental remediation due to its low costs and excellent performance. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of a more systematic review on IC-ME preparation methods, their performance, and the interaction mechanisms of IC-ME in the remediation of wastewater. Herein, this work summarizes the synthetic methods, application of IC-ME materials, and the mechanism of pollutant removal by IC-ME. A variety approaches have been applied to prepare IC-ME materials, and the preparation methods and conditions have a certain influence on the properties of IC-ME materials, thus affecting the performance of pollutant removal. The mechanisms of IC-ME for contaminants removal are very complex, including adsorption, coprecipitation, reduction, surface complexation, and oxidation. Moreover, research vacant fields and problems that existed in the application of IC-ME are proposed. At last, the problems to be addressed to adapt IC to future applications are introduced. This paper reviews and prospects IC-ME wastewater remediation technology, which provides a reference for further scientific research and engineering applications. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This paper summarizes the synthetic methods, application, and mechanism of pollutant removal by iron carbon microelectrolysis (IC-ME) materials. The performance of IC-ME in purifying wastewater depends on the preparation methods and conditions, and the mechanisms for pollutant removal are diverse and complex.