Aniline degradation by electrocatalytic method on a noble metallic oxide coating electrode

Electrochemical oxidation reactions of aniline in different systems were studied on a noble metallic oxide coating electrode, The results indicated that the degradation processes of aniline in neutral and alkaline solutions were similar, both with the appearance of the intermediates of benzoquinone and tartaric acid in successive, however, the degradation efficiency decreased in alkaline solution due to oxygen evolution, In an acidity system the difficulty of degradation increased because polyaniline appeared, and the degradation efficiency was the lowest, Para and meta intermediates, which were difficult to be degraded, formed during the electrochemical oxidation process and this was the major reason for the difficult degradation of aniline. A new technique was proposed to remove more intermediates of aniline, and the results indicated that this technique could not only effectively degrade waste water with aniline for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD_Cr) up to 82%, but also increased electric current efficiency and reduced energy consumption.