Electrochemical degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol on a palladium modified gas-diffusion electrode

Pd/C catalyst was prepared by hydrogen reduction method and used for the Pd/C gas-diffusion electrode. It was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) techniques. The electrochemical degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol was investigated in a diaphragm electrolysis system, feeding firstly with hydrogen gas then with air, using the Pd/C gas-diffusion electrode and the carbon/polytetrafluoroethylene (C/PTFE) gas-diffusion electrode as a cathode, respectively. The results indicated that the self-made Pd/C gas-diffusion cathode can not only reductively dechlorinate 2,4-dichlorophenols by feeding hydrogen gas, but also accelerate the two-electron reduction of O₂ to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) by feeding air. Therefore, both the removal efficiency and the dechlorination degree of 2,4-dichlorophenol reached about 100% after 80 min, and the average removal efficiency of 2,4-dichlorophenol in terms of total organic carbon (TOC) exceeded 76% after 160 min by using Pd/C gas-diffusion cathode, which were better than that of the C/PTFE gas-diffusion cathode. The analysis of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) identified that 4-chlorophenol, 2-chlorophenol, and phenol were the dechlorination products, and hydroquinone, benzoquinone, maleic, fumaric, crylic, malonic, oxalic, acetic and formic acids were the main oxidation intermediates. A reaction scheme involving all these intermediates was proposed.