Removal of cadmium with the sacrificial iron electrodes

In this article, we demonstrate the effect of initial pH (2-10), charge loading (1.83-18.25 Fm-3), current density (0.4-3.2 Adm-2), distance between two electrodes (1-5 cm), time of electrolysis (5-50 min), and metal ion concentration (2-25 mgl-1) on the removal of cadmium (Cd) from industrial wastewater using electro-coagulation (EC) technique. In particular, we find that when the initial pH of 8, charge loading of 18.25 Fm-3, current density of 3.2 Adm-2, and distance between electrodes is 3 cm; Cd percentage of the industrial wastewater is reduced to 99.9 % after 15 minutes of electro-coagulation process. In spite of this result, for 1 kg of Cd removal produces 2.8 kg of sludge; meanwhile, the 32 kg of sludge is generated from the iron sulphate precipitation method. These results suggest that the proposed EC technique has improved industrial wastewater quality by controlling various physico-chemical characteristics.