Electrochemical Oxidation of Phenol Using Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes

Boron-doped diamond electrodes prepared by chemical vapor deposition were used to determine if phenol could be oxidized to CO 2 . Cyclic voltammetry showed that phenol was oxidized by the diamond electrodes and remained electroactive after multiple cycles. Experiments were also run with a flow cell in which 1 L of 10 mM phenol in 0.1 M H 2 SO 4 was circulated through the cell and the total organic carbon (TOC) was monitored as a function of time and cell current. The TOC in solution was reduced from ∼1% to <0.1% with no observable decrease in decomposition rate. This means that the reacted phenol was converted completely to CO 2 .