The electrochemical removal of the food coloring dye tartrazine was carried out using two different materials as electrodes: graphite and stainless steel. The influence of different variables such as KCl concentration, applied potential and current and solution pH, were studied. Stainless steel anode was consumed during the electrolysis, and promotes flocculation/coagulation of the dye. The best color removal achieved -when graphite electrodes were used- was 99.13% after 60 min at 3.0 V electrolysis, using 4.0 g/L KCl as supporting electrolyte. The best dye color removal (98.69%) was obtained at 6.0 V and 2.0 g/L KCl after 15 min of electrolysis using stainless steel electrodes. The consumed electrical energy was calculated at optimum conditions for the two types of electrode materials. |
