Sewage refers to the wastewater comes from domestic or municipal sources, which flows away through sewers. It mostly consists of greywater (from kitchen, bathroom and laundry) and blackwater (from toilet), generally containing urine, faeces, detergents, pathogens, etc. The dissolved pollutants, suspended particles and disease-causing organisms present in sewage are required to be cleaned and converted to a non-toxic form.
Electro-oxidation (EO), also known as anodic oxidation, has gained recognition in treating harmful and recalcitrant organic pollutants, which are typically difficult to degrade with conventional biological remediation processes. The most general electrochemical cell set-up for performing an electro-oxidation treatment comprises two electrodes, operating as anode and cathode. When an external electric current is applied, strong oxidizing species are formed near the anode, notably hydroxyl radicals. Hydroxyl radicals are known to have one of the highest redox potentials, allowing degrading many refractory organic compounds.
Essentially, cathodes are mostly made up by stainless steel plates, platinum mesh or carbon felt. But the anodes material can vary greatly according to the application, as the reaction mechanism is strongly influenced by different metals. Our mixed metal oxide coated titanium anodes with low oxygen overpotential show an excellent ability to produce higher state oxides or superoxides that can degrade any class of organic pollutants.