Recent progress in the combination of activated carbon adsorption and electrolysis for the treatment of wastes

This work describes the recent progress in the development of processes that combine activated carbon adsorption and electrolysis. Three different approaches were identified, and their recent progress and innovations are described. The first approach consists of the use of activated carbon as electrode and adsorbent simultaneously, either in monopolar or bipolar connection, to retain and oxidize directly pollutants on its surface. In the second approach, activated carbon does not act as an electrode, but merely provides heterogeneous catalytic sites for the destruction of pollutants with electrochemically produced oxidants. Finally, in the third approach, activated carbon is used in a two-phase process, first acting as an adsorbent to retain pollutants contained in a gaseous or aqueous stream and then releasing them into a methanol solution that is electrochemically regenerated in a second phase. Possible applications are also discussed not only for the treatment of liquid wastes, but also for gaseous polluted streams.