Efficient degradation of polyacrylamide using a 3-dimensional ultra-thin SnO2-Sb coated electrode

Abstract Polyacrylamide (PAM) is widely used in polymer flooding processes to increase oil recovery while the byproduct of PAM-containing wastewater is a serious environmental issue. In this study, electrochemical oxidation process (EAOP) was applied for treating PAM wastewater using a new type of 3-dimensional ultra-thin SnO2-Sb electrode. Nano-sized catalysts were evenly dispersed both on the surface and inside of a porous Ti filter forming nano-thickness catalytic layer that enhances the utilization and bonding of catalysts. This porous Ti electrode showed 20% improved OH· production and 16.3 times increased accelerated service life than the planar Ti electrode. Using this electrode to treat 100 mg L-1 PAM, the TOC removal efficiency reached over 99% within 3 hours under current density of 20 mA cm-2. The EAOP could fastly break the long-chain PAM molecules into small molecular intermediates. With the porous electrode treating 5 g L-1 PAM under current density of 30 mA cm-2, EAOP reduced 94.2% of average molecular weight in 1 h and 92.0% of solution viscosity in 0.5 h. Moreover, the biodegradability of PAM solution was significantly improved as the solution BOD5/COD ratio raised from 0.05 to 0.41 after 4 h treatment. The degradation pathway of PAM was also investigated.