Investigation of the Removal of Crystal Violet Dye by Electrocoagulation Method

Abstract

In this study, the removal of crystal violet from water by using the electrocoagulation method was investigated. The effects of operational parameters such as time of electrolysis, initial pH of solution, solution conductivity, current density and the initial dye concentration were examined during color removal. The results showed that color removal efficiency increased with time. Initial pH of dye solution had no considerable effect on color removal efficiency. The color removal efficiency reached 99% for all pH values. The highest color removal efficiency was seen at pH 6 with 10 min electrolysis time. The efficiency increased with the increase in solution conductivity and applied current density. As the current density increased from 5.8 to 17.36 mA/cm2, the color removal efficiency rose from 55 to 95%. A decrease in the color removal efficiency was observed when initial dye concentration increased. At 30 min of electrolysis time, color removal efficiencies were 95 and 55% for initial dye concentration of 90 and 570 mg/L. The results of this study showed that electrocoagulation using aluminum electrodes could be applied for the treatment of wastewater containing crystal violet dye.