title: Electrochemical degradation of humic acid.
abstract: The treatment of natural water for drinking water production goes through the degradation of humic substances. In this study, humic acid, extracted from a peat area located at the margins of the Mogi Guaçu River at São Paulo State, Brazil, was used to perform electro-oxidation essays in order to evaluate the possibilities of electrochemical methods in the degradation of humic substances. The working electrodes were dimensionally stable anodes (DSA) type with the following compositions: Ti/Ir0.3Ti0.7O2; Ti/Ru0.3Ti0.7O2; and Ti/Ir0.2Ru0.2Ti0.6O2. The electrolyses were performed by using a solution composed of an electrolyte support (0.1 mol l(-1) KCL) and 30 mg l-1 of the humic acid. Samples were taken during the electrolyses and analysed by the pH, transmittance, UV-vis spectra and chromatography. The results show that the Ti/Ru0.3Ti0.7O2 electrode presents the best performance considering the elimination of most of the electro-oxidation products after approximately 2 h of electrolysis at 40 mA cm(-2).
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Química de Sao Carlos, Brazil. artur@iqsc.sc.usp.br
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Motheo
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pinhedo
mesh_terms: D004563:Electrochemistry; D004566:Electrodes; D006801:Humans; D006812:Humic Substances / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D006812:Humic Substances