The influence of cathode material on electrochemical degradation of trichloroethylene in aqueous solution

• The cathode material influences hydrodechlorination (HDC) rate of trichloroethylene.
• The effect of Pd coating is different for cathode materials tested.
• The Pd coating on the cathodes significantly enhances HDC of trichloroethylene.
• The presence of nitrates adversely influences the HDC of trichloroethylene.

In this study, different cathode materials were evaluated for electrochemical degradation of aqueous phase trichloroethylene (TCE). A cathode followed by an anode electrode sequence was used to support reduction of TCE at the cathode via hydrodechlorination (HDC). The performance of iron (Fe), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), aluminum (Al) and carbon (C) foam cathodes was evaluated. We tested commercially available foam materials, which provide large electrode surface area and important properties for field application of the technology. Ni foam cathode produced the highest TCE removal (68.4%) due to its high electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen generation and promotion of HDC. Different performances of the cathode materials originate from differences in the bond strength between atomic hydrogen and the material. With a higher electrocatalytic activity than Ni, Pd catalyst (used as cathode coating) increased TCE removal from 43.5% to 99.8% for Fe, from 56.2% to 79.6% for Cu, from 68.4% to 78.4% for Ni, from 42.0% to 63.6% for Al and from 64.9% to 86.2% for C cathode. The performance of the palladized Fe foam cathode was tested for degradation of TCE in the presence of nitrates, as another commonly found groundwater species. TCE removal decreased from 99% to 41.2% in presence of 100 mg L−1 of nitrates due to the competition with TCE for HDC at the cathode.The results indicate that the cathode material affects TCE removal rate while the Pd catalyst significantly enhances cathode activity to degrade TCE via HDC.

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