Study of the chlorfenvinphos pesticide removal under different anodic materials and different reactor configuration

The present manuscript focuses on the study of the electrochemical oxidation of the insecticide Chlorfenvinphos (CVP). The assays were carried out under galvanostatic conditions using boron-doped diamond (BDD) and lowcost tin dioxide doped with antimony (Sb-doped SnO2) as anodes. The influence of the operating variables, such as applied current density, presence or absence of a cation-exchange membrane and concentration of supporting electrolyte, was discussed. The results revealed that the higher applied current density the higher degradation and mineralization of the insecticide for both anodes. The presence of the membrane and the highest concentration of Na2SO4 studied (0.1 M) as a supporting electrolyte benefited the oxidation process of CVP using the BDD electrode, while with the ceramic anode the elimination of CVP was lower under these experimental conditions. Although the BDD electrode showed the best performance, ceramic anodes appear as an interesting alternative as they were able to degrade CVP completely for the highest applied current density values. Toxicity tests revealed that the initial solution of CVP was more toxic than the samples treated with the ceramic electrode, while using the BDD electrode the toxicity of the sample increased.

Automated summary

This study focused on the electrochemical oxidation of the insecticide Chlorfenvinphos (CVP) using boron-doped diamond (BDD) and low-cost tin dioxide doped with antimony (Sb-doped SnO2) as anodes. The results showed that higher applied current density led to higher degradation and mineralization of CVP for both types of anodes. While the BDD electrode performed better overall, the ceramic anodes proved to be an interesting alternative, capable of completely degrading CVP at high current densities.