In this study, acetaminophen (ACT) in aqueous solution was treated with electrooxidation and photo-electrooxidation processes (PEO). An electrochemical cell was used for the treatment of different concentrations of ACT (10, 50 and 80 mg L-1). A 23 factorial design was proposed, and the variables studied were current intensity 0.5 A (45.45 mA cm-2) and 1.0 A (90.91 mA cm-2), electrode configuration (anode:BDD, cathode:Fe or Cu) and presence/absence of UV light; NaCl 0.043 M (2.5 g L-1) was used as supporting electrolyte, the initial pH was 5.5, and the treatment time was 3 h. The aqueous solutions were characterized before and after the treatment using infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), total carbon (TC), and fluorescence spectroscopy. The optimal operating conditions using an initial ACT concentration of 80 mg L-1 were 1.0 A, BDD-Fe configuration and UV light (254 nm). The removal efficiencies were 100% of ACT and 82.75% of TOC after 15 min of treatment. At concentrations of 50 and 10 mg L-1, 77.16% and 50.29% of TOC were removed after 10 and 5 min of treatment, respectively. Finally, the kinetic study showed an increase in the rate constants when the UV light was applied.
Keywords: Acetaminophen (ACT); BDD; Electrooxidation; UV light; photo-electrooxidation.