The electrodeposition of trace metallic impurities: dependence on the supporting electrolyte concentration-a comparison between bipolar and monopolar porous electrodes

Heavy metal impurities occur in contaminated water resources and industrial streams in trace amounts and very often in the presence of much higher concentrations of indifferent electrolytes. It is shown that under diffusion controlled conditions, the removal efficiency of metallic contaminants by electrodeposition using monopolar porous electrodes is high as long as the electrolyte concentration is high enough so that the ir drop of the solution in the pores is small. In the bipolar mode, the efficiency decreases considerably in both high and low concentrations.