Study on the treatment of photovoltaic wastewater using electrocoagulation: Fluoride removal with aluminium electrodes—Characteristics of products

Abstract

In this work, treatment of synthetic fluoride-containing solutions by electrocoagulation method using alu- minium electrodes has been studied. Electrocoagulation was investigated for applied potential (10–30 V), electrolysis time and supporting electrolyte (NaCl) concentration (0–100 mg/L). The results showed that with increasing applied potential and electrolysis time, the Al3+ dosage increases, and thereby favouring the fluoride ions removal. It was also observed that defluoridation is dependant on the concentration of supporting electrolyte. Finally, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spec- troscopy of X-rays and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the solid products formed by aluminium electrodes during the EC process.