High-speed removal of nitrate from aqueous solutions by the electrolytic method

High-speed removal of nitrate from aqueous solution by electrolytic method was developed. The conversion of nitrate ion to nitrogen gas was 90% after 50 minutes of reaction. The concentration of chlorite, ion and nitrate ion in the initial reaction solution was 300 mg L-1 and 200 mgL(-1), respectively. In this method, the highly-activated electrodes were used as a Cu-Zn cathode and a Pd anode. The main electrolytic reaction of nitrate removal involved cathodic reduction of NO3- to NH3 (NO3- + 6H(2)O + 8e(-) --> NH3 + 9OH(-)) and anodic oxidation of Cl- to HClO (2Cl(-) --> Cl-2 + 2e(-), Cl-2 + H2O --> HClO + HCl), and finally got N-2 by redox reaction (2NH(3) + 3HClO --> N-2 up arrow + 3HCl + 3H(2)O). The performance of electrocatalysts was investigated by cyclic voltammetry.