Abstract
The removal of organic pollutants from synthetic wash wastewater by a combined multi‐phase electro‐catalytic oxidation method was evaluated using porous graphite as anode and cathode, and CuO–Co~2~O~3~–PO~4~^3−^ modified kaolin as catalyst. The synergic effect on COD removal was studied when integrating the electro‐chemical reactor with the effective modified kaolin in a single undivided cell; the results showed that higher COD removal efficiency was obtained than those obtained using the individual processes. Under optimal conditions of pH 3, 30 mA cm^−2^ current density, very effective reduction of organic pollutants was achieved with this combined electro‐chemical method. High removal efficiency (90%) of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was obtained in 60 min in the treatment of simulated wash wastewater (anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate [DBS]). This method was also applied to treat wastewater form paper‐making and resulted in a COD reduction of 84%. Based on the investigation, a possible mechanism of this combined electro‐chemical process was proposed. The pollutants in wastewater could be decreased by the high reactive OH• that were produced via the decomposition of electro‐generated H~2~O~2~ activated by the synergic effect of electro‐field and catalyst. The results indicate that the multi‐phase catalytic electro‐chemical oxidation process is a promising technique for wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry