Azo dye wastewater treatment in a novel three-dimensional electrode reactor

A novel three-dimensional electrode reactor (3DER) was designed to treat the dye wastewater. The performance of 3DER was evaluated via methyl orange (MO) removal efficiency. For comparison, the performance of the two-dimensional electrode reactor (2DER) was also assessed. Furthermore, the effects of electrolyte and aeration on treatment performance were preliminarily evaluated to further optimize the operation on 3DER. A repeatable and stable MO treatment efficiency was obtained in the 3DER. The MO removal rate reached 79.5% at the applied voltage of 1.0 V, electrode spacing of 2 cm and initial MO concentration of 60 mg/dm3, significantly higher than that in the 2DER (58.8%), suggesting the obvious improvement of particle electrodes on MO removal. Both adding electrolyte and air sparging into the 3DER contributed to the enhancement of the MO removal rate. These results obtained here suggest that the 3DER may provide an effective alternative for the treatment of azo dye wastewater and/or non-biodegradable industrial wastewaters