Development and optimization of Cu-Zr/Ti cathode for removing copper from contaminated water using electrochemical reduction

摘要

Consumption of copper contaminated water may lead to adverse health effects, and therefore, it is of utmost importance to remove copper from contaminated streams. More specifically, removing copper from industrial streams, before they enter surface water bodies can reduce anthropogenic copper contamination to a larger extend. This research therefore targeted at optimizing a cathode material and testing the same for employing it in electrochemical copper reduction technology. A Cu-Zr composite coating was developed and optimized on Ti substrate, using electrochemical deposition technique. Coating conditions, including coating current densities and coating durations, were thoroughly investigated. It was found that the best cathode )in terms of electrochemically active surface and stability) can be obtained at copper coating current density of 50 mA/cm(2), copper coating duration of 0.5 h, zirconium coating current density of 75 mA/cm(2), and zirconium coating duration of 1.5 h. A cathode developed with earlier parameters was evaluated using scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The final cathode was successfully employed in removing copper from contaminated water, indicating the ability of using electrochemical reduction technology in removing copper from contaminated streams. About 92% removal of copper from contaminated synthetic wastewater was achieved after 6 h of reaction duration at 10 mA/cm(2) of current density.