Electrochemical removal of nitrate from waste water

The reduction process of nitrate at copper based electrodes was investigated. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies allowed us to establish the specific parameters concerning the electrodeposition of the individual metals and their alloys. It was demonstrated that the products resulting from electrochemical nitrate reduction (ENR) in alkaline media can be detected by cyclic hydrodynamic voltammetry (CHV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) techniques at Cu and CuSn plated Pt electrodes. Moreover, using SWV ammonium can be electrochemically detected with good accuracy. An enhancement of the electrocatalytic activity of Cu by alloying it with Sn was observed. The reduction of nitrate was investigated in an engineering laboratory scale flow reactor under different operating conditions. On the two investigated types of cathode materials (Cu and CuSn), the concentration of nitrate was reduced electrochemically to the maximum permissible limit (50 mg/L) with a energy consumption in the range of 2 – 16 kWh/kg NaNO3 at a CuSn cathode.


    

Electrofabrication of Composition Modulated Multilayer Alloy (CMMA) of Co-Ni for Better Corrosion Protection

Electrofabrication of multilayer Co-Ni alloy coatings were accomplished successfully on mild steel (MS) for better corrosion protection. Multilayer comprised of alternatively formed ‘nano-size’ layers of Co-Ni alloy of different composition have been produced from single electrolyte having Co+2 and Ni+2 ions using modulated (i.e. periodic pulse control) current density. The deposition conditions were optimized for both composition and thickness of individual layers for best performance against corrosion. The process and product of depositions were analyzed using cyclic voltammetry and SEM, PXRD, Hardness Tester, electrochemical AC and DC methods, respectively. The corrosion behavior of multilayer coatings was found to be improved drastically when the thickness of individual layer approached nano regime. The coating having 300 layers, deposited at cyclic cathodic current densities of 2.0 and 4.0 Adm-2 was found to show the least corrosion rate (CR = 0.02 mmpy) compared to monolayer (Co-Ni)4 alloy coating (CR = 2.8 mmpy) deposited from the same bath for same deposition time. Drastic improvement in the corrosion performance of multilayer coatings were explained in the light of changed kinetics of mass transfer at cathode and increased surface area due to layering, respectively.