Investigation of transition metal containing composite electrodes and application in advanced oxidation processes

Transition metals, metal oxides, and their composite compounds possess high charge storage, wear resistance, and electron transport capacities due to their multidimensional morphological structures. In recent years, transition metals have become a focal point in the field of electrochemistry due to their abundance in nature and low cost. Electrooxidation processes, one of the electrochemical processes, are an effective solution for wastewater treatment due to their high efficiency, easy control, and versatility. Transition metals exhibit better electrochemical properties than single metal oxides, such as faster electron transfer, lower internal resistance, high stability, and resistance to wear and corrosion. In this thesis, various transition metals such as Nickel, Chromium, Cobalt, and Tungsten were coated onto Titanium surfaces using the HVOF coating method. Electrooxidation studies were conducted on textile wastewater using composite electrodes prepared with different content ratios. The studies aimed to remove color and COD from textile wastewater using the electrooxidation method and composite electrodes. The surface structures, material characterization, electrochemical behavior, and efficiencies of the developed composite electrodes were examined in the electrooxidation processes. It was determined that the surface structure of titanium electrodes coated with Tungsten Carbide-based composite material was homogeneous and the coating material was crystallized. At the end of the electrooxidation processes, the highest color removal efficiency was measured at 93.7% with Tungsten Carbide-based composite electrodes (WC/Co/Cr, WC/Ni, and WC/Co). The highest COD removal efficiency was measured at 87.27% with the tungsten carbide-based WC/Co/Cr coated electrode material after treatment. This thesis demonstrated that composite electrodes produced with transition metals can be effective and highly efficient in the treatment of textile wastewater.