Performance of nitrogen-doped graphene aerogel particle electrodes for electro-catalytic oxidation of simulated Bisphenol A wastewaters

The treatment of effluent containing Bisphenol A (BPA) was investigated experimentally using nitrogen-doped graphene aerogel (NGAs) as particle electrodes in a three-dimensional electrode reactor for the electrochemical treatment was studied. The effects of the cell voltage, pH, the ratio of NGAs mass to solution volume and repeated times on the removal efficiency were investigated. Compared with commercial carbon particle electrodes, the NGAs exhibited stronger activity to remove BPA simulated wastewater. For 15 mg L−1 of BPA solution, the degradation rate of BPA exceeded 90% after treatment for only 30 min under the optimum conditions. The CODCr removal rate of BPA was 85%. Moreover, in the process of reused 50 times, the degradation rate of BPA can be kept in more than 85%. The CODCr removal rate was stable at about 73%. The intermediate products of electrochemical degradation of BPA were identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry liquid chromatography (LC-MS), and a probable BPA degradation pathway was proposed. It was considered that OH radicals by water electrolysis could constantly attack the aromatic ring to form various intermediates such as hydroxylated-BPA, isopropylphenol, hydroquinone, phenol and butantetraol, maleic acid, oxalic acid. These compounds were eventually mineralized by electrolysis into CO2 and H2O.