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In this work a carbon nanotube–Ce-modified PbO2 (CNT–Ce–PbO2) electrode was prepared by electrodeposition method, and compared with pure PbO2, Ce–PbO2, and CNT–PbO2 electrodes. The direct and indirect oxidation capacities of prepared electrodes in electro-catalytic oxidation processes were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and hydroxyl radical production tests, respectively. The electro-catalytic activity of electrodes was examined by electro-catalytic oxidation of a model pollutant of m-nitrophenol (m-NP). Besides, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was also employed to identify the products resulting from the electro-catalytic oxidation of m-NP and the degradation mechanism of m-NP was proposed. Results show that the CNT–Ce–PbO2 anode has higher direct and indirect oxidation capacities than pure PbO2, Ce–PbO2, and CNT–PbO2 anodes. In the electro-catalytic oxidation of m-NP, the m-NP can be oxidized and degraded at all anodes, and the oxidation reactions of m-NP follow first-order kinetics. m-NP and TOC removal efficiencies are about 0.987 and 0.622 after electrolysis of 120 min and a maximum first-order rate constant of 0.036 min−1 is achieved at the CNT–Ce–PbO2 anode, which are obviously higher than those of the other three kinds of anodes. Keywords: Electro-catalytic oxidation, PbO2 electrode, Carbon nanotube, Ce, m-Nitrophenol

Concurrent with the demand for cleaner, lighter, and more efficient vehicles, many scarce metals (SMs) are used in passenger vehicles because of their unique physical and chemical properties. To explore the recycling potential of these metals, it is important to understand their distribution in the vehicles as well as their fate at the vehicles' end-of-life. However, this information remains very scattered and sparse. In this paper, we present a study investigating the distribution of 31 SMs in selected electrical and electronic (EE) components of conventional passenger vehicles and in the end-of-life vehicle shredder fractions from a shredder plant in Switzerland. The results of the chemical analyses show that the mass fractions of Co, Sn, Sr, Ta, Y, and Zr were dominant with >20 000 g/t in the selected EE components and Ag, Ga, Mo, Sb, Sn, Sr, and Zr with >50 g/t in the analyzed shredder fractions. The largest masses of 17 SMs were found in the shredder light fraction, which is incinerated in municipal waste treatment plants mainly in Switzerland; thus, these SMs are currently not recovered. The SM mass fractions in both the EE components and the shredder fractions were projected to their total masses in 100 hypothetical midrange passenger vehicles. The resulting mass balance showed a mismatch of >50% for 23 metals, which indicates other important SM sources such as alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical oxidation behavior of m-nitrophenol (m-NP) was studied comparatively on glassy carbon electrode, Pt electrode, PbO2 electrode, SnO2 electrode, and graphite electrode using cyclic voltammetry. The cyclic voltammetry measurements were performed in acidic (1 M H2SO4, pH 0.4), neutral (1 M Na2SO4, pH 6.8), and alkaline (1 M NaOH, pH 12.0) media to investigate the effect of pH value on the oxidation of m-NP. The fouling of electrodes was also studied during cyclic voltammetry measurements. The results indicate that both of the electrode material and the pH value of supporting electrolyte had a significant influence on the oxidation of m-NP. In acidic medium, m-NP was irreversibly oxidized on glassy carbon electrode, Pt electrode, SnO2 electrode, and graphite electrode at 1.23, 1.26, 1.26 and 1.27 V, respectively, while there was no any oxidation peak for PbO2 electrode. In a neutral medium, m-NP yielded well-defined oxidation peaks on all electrodes, although the height and potential of the peaks depended on the material of electrodes. In the alkaline medium, the m-NP could be directly oxidized only on glassy carbon electrode and graphite electrode, but their peaks were not well defined because the oxidation of m-NP occurs closer to oxygen evolution potential region. In addition, the oxidation peaks appeared at the lower potential value in the alkaline medium than in neutral and acidic media. Under all conditions, except in the alkaline solution and on glassy carbon electrode, the passivation of electrodes occurred during continual scans.