Considering the growing concern about effluent toxicity, generated by the presence of metals and the occurrence of new organic pollutants, this study applied an advanced oxidation process (AOP), denominated the photo-electro-oxidation (PEO), for polishing after the effluent passed through the conventional wastewater treatment from the metal finishing industry that often does not satisfactorily remove metals and organic additives. PEO associated organic additive degradation with nickel removal. A synthetic wastewater, whose composition is similar to a nickel bath containing additives, was evaluated. Employing a Ti anode coated with 70%TiO2/30%RuO2 under an incidence of UV radiation from a mercury vapor lamp of 250 W and a stainless steel cathode, 2.5 L of wastewater were treated in a 1.6 L reactor, at a flow rate of 1L.min-1. Applying different current densities, there was a reduction of up to 83% COD and removal of Ni above 90%. The cytotoxicity assays indicated that PEO did not generate more toxic intermediates because there was no increase in the toxic effect when the solutions were compared before and after PEO.
Nickel; organic additives; photo-electro-oxidation; cytotoxicity
