Electrochemical degradation of Musk ketone in aqueous solutions using a novel porous Ti/SnO2-Sb2O3/PbO2 electrodes

This paper investigates the electrochemical degradation of Musk ketone (MK) in aqueous solution with a novel porous Ti/SnO2-Sb2O3/PbO2 electrode. The influence of electro-deposition preparation parameters on the surface structure and crystal characteristics of porous PbO2 electrode was systematically investigated by SEM and XRD in detail, including electro-deposition time, current density and deposition temperature. Compared with the conventional plate PbO2 electrode, the novel porous PbO2 had a higher stability, safety and removal efficiency for Musk ketone. Besides, the optimal degradation conditions were obtained by studying the effecting of different factors, such as electrolyte concentrations (0–0.12 mol L− 1), current densities (10–50 mA cm− 2), initial pH (3 − 11) and initial Musk ketone concentrations (10–90 mg L− 1). The results showed that the removal rates of Musk ketone reached 99.93% after 120 min electrolysis at initial 50 mg L− 1 Musk ketone at constant current density of 40 mA cm− 2 with 0.06 mol L− 1 Na2SO4 supporting electrolyte. In addition, cyclic voltammograms tests indicated that the degradation of Musk ketone was mainly achieved via indirect electrochemical oxidation mediated by hydroxyl radical. Moreover, a possible electrochemical degradation pathway for Musk ketone was deduced based on the intermediates identified by GC–MS methods.