A study of the treatment of wastewater using K-activated carbon fiber (ACF) system followed electrochemical removal was carried out at laboratory scale. Various different types of ACF treated with potassium salts as K sources have been used in this study to investigate the catalytic removal efficiency of pollutants from the wastewater. The electro-chemical removal capacities of K-ACF electrodes were associated with their adsorption properties and were related to physico-chemical properties such as surface area and kind of treated potassium salts, and to reaction time. And, surface morphologies and elemental analysis for the K-ACFs after ECR as a function of time are investigated by SEM and EDX to explain the changes in removal capacities. The K-ACFs were electrochemically reacted with wastewater to investigate the removal efficiencies for the COD, BOD, T-N and T-P. A satisfactory removal performance except results for the T-P removal performance was achieved.
Keywords: K-ACF; adsorption; SEM/EDX; ECR; pollutant