Recent Developments in Electrochemical Technology for Water and Wastewater Treatments

Abstract

This paper presents the recent attention in scientific studies and development of electrochemical processes. Electrochemical technology has contributed significantly to the purification of water for better human health and aquatic life forms. In this study, we emphasize the developmental trends of electrochemical technologies, their applications, and recent developments in the context of water and wastewater treatments. Recent studies have made great advances in investigating and optimizing advanced electrochemical oxidation processes in treatment of various organic pollutants, reduction of halogenated contaminants, and disinfection of microorganisms. Besides, electrochemical oxidation processes have been combined with other treatment methods to enable their practical application. Excellent electro-catalytic treatment of contaminant and their by-products was achieved through the application of mixed metal oxides (PbO₂, SnO₂, Ti/RuO₂, etc.), Pt, and boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes. Several studies have focused on selective removal of trace pollutants in a complex matrix. These studies have shown the possibility of removing target pollutants with relatively low energy consumption. It can be concluded that enhancement of treatment performance of the present technologies will contribute to a wider application of electrochemical processes in water and wastewater treatment.