Evaluation of stainless steel as an electrocatalyst for

DEPT 11
electrooxidation of urea – rich wastewater 1|
DEPT

INTRODUCTION PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

. Urea is natural, white crystalline solid containing
46%N2 .It has many applications : industrial
(fertilizers, chemical industries(resins)) , medical
applications (urea-containing creams), animal
feeding, laboratory applications…. etc).
. So because of its numerous applications, there is a
huge amount of urea rich waste water plus the urine
RESULTS
. One of the most common and abundant water
pollutants is urea which is usually present in The results of the proposed approach are
wastewater discharges from several sources and in
human and animal wastes in form of urine which is the
most abundant waste on Earth. The largest constituent
of urine is urea with concentration of 0.33 M.
34.8
. Urea is not toxic by itself, but it can be naturally mA/cm2

waste (human and animal waste) and water coming hydrolyzed to ammonia, which is extremely toxic to
from hospitals like dialysis units. both animal and marine life. 473 mV

. So there are some techniques that have been . Additionally, urea is well-known as source of
applied for the treatment of urea-rich wasterwater , hydrogen fuel /fuel cell power.
summarized in the following table and the products . Hence, the electrochemical treatment for urea-rich
of the treatment process: wastewater has recently become a topic of attention
Table 1: Summary of the applied techniques for due to its potential applications, including wastewater
treatment of urea-rich wastewater remediation, suppressing the emission of the
Technique Products unpleasant odor due to ammonia, production of
Hydrolysis(heat, pressure) Ammonia,CO2 hydrogen, electrochemical sensors, and fuel cells.
Enzymatic hydrolysis Ammonia,CO2 . Many researches have been conducted for
Decomposition by oxidants Nitrate ions + CO2 investigation of applicable working electrode for such
reaction including platinum, nickel, silver, titanium and Figure 2: Cyclic voltamogram at different concentrations of KOH
or
N2+CO2 (depends their alloys and other metallic- based catalyst and it
Fig.2: displays the peaks given in cyclic
on the oxidant) was concluded that Ni-containing catalysts are
voltammogram (CV) that were obtained at different
Catalytic decomposition Nitrate ions, N2, generally more active towards urea electrooxidation in
concentrations of KOH (urea 0.33 M). The anodic
CO2, ammonia, and addition to its low cost compared to noble metals as
peak is estimated at E pa of 473 mV versus Ag/AgCl
possibly NOx Pt.
reference electrode with a current density of I pa of
(depends on the PROPOSED APPROACH 34.82 mA/cm2.
catalyst and
conditions) Figure 1 .
Biological treatment Nitrogen,nitrite
a) Schematic of the
ions, CO2 setup
Adsorption n/a
b) Actual setup
Electrochemical techniques N2, CO2, H2
. Electrochemical technique generally is an Oxidation
reaction of pollutants under the effect of electricity.
For treatment of urea , products includes only
gaseous products (N2, CO2, H2).
. No harmful products except CO2 which can be
dissolved in alkaline media. Figure 3: constant voltage test at 0.5 V potential in 4 M KOH–
0.33 M urea for 2 hours
OBJECTIVE
. The stability of stainless steel anode was
▪ experimental investigation of the catalytic demonstrated by constant potential electrolysis at
activity of stainless steel towards urea 0.50 V. It is noticed that after the initial reduction in
current density in the first few seconds, stable
oxidation in alkaline media current density was found to persist over 2 hours of
▪ Studying and optimization of the electrolysis.
. Besides the low price, corrosion-resistant and
concentration of alkaline media (KOH) . excellent stability, stainless steel exhibited relatively
high electrocatalytic activity towards urea
electrooxidation offering a promising large-scale
application potential for hydrogen production from
urea-rich wastewater.

. All electrochemical experiments were performed in

standard three-electrode system, utilizing commercial
stainless steel 304 (as Nickel-containing alloy) as
working electrode, graphite rod as the counter
electrode, and Ag/AgCl in saturated KCl solution as the
reference electrode controlled by (Gamry Reference
3000, Gamry Instruments, USA).