Utilizing a <i>Spirulina</i>‐Based Adsorbent for the Treatment of Real‐Time, Reactive Dye–Based Textile Industrial Wastewater by Electrocoagulation

The textile industry plays a central role in economic development; however, the discharge of wastewater with diverse dyes poses higher risks to both ecosystems and human health. This study investigated the treatment of real-time reactive dye-based textile industrial wastewater using a hybrid electrocoagulation (EC) and adsorption (AD) process, with algal-derived activated carbon (AAC) as a novel adsorbent. AAC provides a sustainable and eco-friendly option for enhancing treatment efficiency, along with the EC process, compared with the stand-alone process. The present study focuses on finding out the optimal dosage of the adsorbent and time for the effective removal of COD and color. Maximum removal efficiency obtained for COD and color was 95.73% ± 1.91% and 58.70% ± 1.17%, respectively, with an optimal adsorbent dosage of 6 g/L and an optimum time of 50 min. Electrochemical studies revealed typical Tafel behavior for aluminum electrodes in wastewater. A negative corrosion potential indicates a propensity for anodic dissolution, crucial for coagulant generation, facilitating impurity removal in textile wastewater. Linear sweep voltammetry demonstrates that the aluminum electrode possesses the potential for both oxidation and reduction reactions, while the mesoporous structure and surface functional groups of the adsorbents together enhance the COD and color removal efficiency in the hybrid EC-AD treatment process. The findings highlight the novelty and efficacy of the hybrid EC-AD process in addressing the challenges associated with real-time textile wastewater treatment.