Self-supporting electrodes have triggered great interests in improving electro-Fenton (EF) system for degradation of refractory organic pollutants. In this work, a novel self-supporting carbon fiber paper (CFP) electrode modified by transition metals, e.g. Fe and Mn, was fabricated and employed as a heterogeneous EF cathode. The prepared electrode exhibited excellent degradation for a number of typical organic pollutants along with superior stability. Remarkably, a high removal efficiency was achieved in the EF treatment of shale gas fracturing flowback wastewater. Results indicated that 65.2% TOC and 74.8% COD were eliminated after 4 h degradation. The residual COD value of the real wastewater was 80 mg L-1, meeting the emission requirement of the integrated wastewater discharge standard (COD<100 mg L-1) with a low specific energy consumption of 6.9kWhkg-1COD-1. This work demonstrates a competing alternative for efficient decontamination of real wastewater using an electro-Fenton strategy with a low-cost electrode.
Keywords: Electro-Fenton; Real wastewater; Self-supporting electrode; Synergistic effect; Transition metals.
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