Electrochemical reduction and oxidation of DDT

Abstract

Electrolysis has been studied as a possible method to treat DDT wastes. In methanol, the major process was dehydrochlorination to DDE followed by further reduction. In an aqueous emulsion containing 1% heptane and 0.1% Triton SP-175®, DDT was reduced at a deposited lead electrode with sodium sulphate as the supporting electrolyte by sequential hydrodechlorination of the aliphatic chlorine atoms. An excellent material balance was achieved, but the current efficiency was poor, even at low current densities. Electrooxidation of DDT was also investigated; in aqueous solutions or emulsion, little oxidation occurred because of competing oxidation of water at the highly positive potentials needed to oxidize DDT. In acetonitrile, electrooxidation occurred with high current efficiency by way of "electrochemical combustion" of DDT and its intermediate oxidation products to CO 2. We conclude that development of an electrolytic technology for destroying DDT wastes is unlikely.Key words: electroreduction, electrooxidation, voltammetry, surfactant media.