A comparison between aluminium and iron electrodes in electrocoagulation process for glyphosate removal

This study was intended to compare the performance of electrocoagulation process using aluminium and iron electrodes for glyphosate removal in aqueous solution. the effects of initial glyphosate concentration,electrocoagulation time and distance between electrodes,were discussed in detail. an electrocoagulation tank of 500ml with two metal plates electrodes,same in dimensions and metal types,was set up to perform batch mode laboratory experiment and the glyphosate in white powder was first diluted with deionized water. production of metal cations showed an ability to neutralize negatively charged particles,which then encouraged to bind together to form aggregates of flocs composed of a combination of glyphosate and metal hydroxide. compared with iron electrodes,aluminium electrodes were more effective for glyphosate removal,with a removal efficiency of over than 80%. this study revealed that electrocoagulation process using aluminium electrodes is reliable,especially designed for initial concentration 100 mg/l,electrocoagulation time 50 min,and distance between electrodes 6 cm. finally,it can be concluded that electrocoagulation process using aluminium electrodes is efficient for glyphosate removal from aqueous environments. © 2015 penerbit utm press. all rights reserved.