Abstract

Background: Annually, large quantities of dyes are produced and consumed in different industries. The discharge of highly colored textile effluents to the aquatic environments causes serious health problems in living organisms. This paper investigates the performance of each of the electro-oxidation and electro-reduction pathways in the removal of reactive red 120 (RR120) from synthetic textile effluents using a novel electrochemical reactor. Methods: In the current study, a two-compartment reactor divided by cellulosic separator was applied in batch mode using graphite anodes and stainless steel cathodes. Central Composite Design was used to design the experiments and find the optimal conditions. The operational parameters were initial dye concentration (100-500 mg L-1), sodium chloride concentration (2500-12,500 mg L-1), electrolysis time (7.5-37.5 min), and current intensity (0.06-0.3 A). Results: The results showed that electro-oxidation was much more efficient than electro-reduction in the removal of RR120. According to the developed models, current intensity was the most effective factor on the electro-oxidation of RR120 as well as in power consumption (Coefficients of 12.06 and 0.73, respectively). With regard to the dye removal through electro-reduction, electrolysis time (coefficient of 8.05) was the most influential factor. Under optimal conditions (RR120 = 200 mg.L-1, NaCl = 7914.29 mg.L-1, current intensity = 0.12 A, and reaction time = 30 min), the dye was removed as 99.44 and 32.38 via electro-oxidation and electro-reduction mechanisms, respectively, with consuming only 1.21 kwhm-3 of electrical energy. Conclusions: According to the results, electro-oxidation using graphite anodes in a cell divided by cellulosic separator is very efficient, compared to electro-reduction, in the removal of RR120 from aqueous solutions. © 2017 The Author(s).