Elimination of Pb2+ through electrocoagulation: Applicability of adsorptive stripping voltammetry for monitoring the lead concentration during its elimination

The aim of this manuscript is to develop a combined method for the detection and remediation of Pb2+ species in aqueous environment. The electrocoagulation (EC) process of Pb2+ has been studied, using an electrolytic flow cell equipped with Al sacrificial electrodes and by working under galvanostatic conditions (by applying currents of 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 A). The concentration of Pb2+ during EC was monitored by Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry (AdSV) and data were also confirmed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), The experimental results of EC showed that the performances of the process slightly depend on the applied current; a complete removal of the pollutant is obtained in all cases, however with different treatment times (90, 75 and 45 min for 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 A, respectively). Furthermore, the AdSV, when compared with the AAS, has shown that the electroanalytical approach represents a fast and quite reliable alternative for monitoring heavy metal remediation applications. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.