Polyacrylamide
(PAM) in environmental water has become a major problem in water pollution
management due to its high molecular mass, corrosion resistance, high
viscosity, and nonabsorption by soil. The composite of Fe-doped Ce0.75Zr0.25O2 solid solution (Fe-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2) loaded on carbon felt (CF)
was fabricated by a hydrothermal synthesis method, which was used
as the cathode in a heterogeneous electro-Fenton system for the degradation
of PAM. It showed that the degradation efficiency of PAM by the Fe-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2/CF cathode was 86% after
120 min and the molecular mass of PAM decreased by more than 90% after
300 min. Total organic carbon removal reached 78.86% in the presence
of Fe-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2/CF, while the
value was only 38.01% in the absence of Fe-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2. Further studies showed that the breaking
of the chain begins with the amide bond, and then, the carbon chain
was cracked into a short alkyl chain. As degradation progressed, both
the complex viscosity and elasticity modulus of PAM solutions decreased
nearly 50% at 300 min. It indicated that •OH were
the most significant active species for the degradation of PAM. This
novel Fe-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2/CF composite
is an efficient and promising electrode for the removal of PAM in
wastewater.