Journal of Hazardous Materials 319 (2016) 102–110 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Hazardous Materials jo ur nal ho me p ag e: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhazmat Preparation of IrO 2 -Ta 2 O 5 |Ti electrodes by immersion, painting and electrophoretic deposition for the electrochemical removal of hydrocarbons from water Rosa Alhelí Herrada a,b , Alejandro Medel a,b , Federico Manríquez a , Ignasi Sirés b,∗ , Erika Bustos a,∗ a Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico en Electroquímica, S.C. Parque Tecnológico Querétaro, Sanfandila, Pedro Escobedo, 76703 Querétaro, Mexico b Laboratori d’Electroquímica dels Materials i del Medi Ambient, Departament de Química Física, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1-11, 08028 Barcelona, Spain h i g h l i g h t s • Electrophoretic deposition (EP) bet- ter than painting and immersion for IrO 2 -Ta 2 O 5 |Ti. • Large surface area and homogeneous coverage were obtained by EP. • The greatest production of hydroxyl radicals was achieved with DSA ® pre- pared by EP. • Removal of PAHs: 67%, 79% and 85% for fluoranthene, naphthalene and phenanthrene. • 67% of mineralization using DSA ® prepared by EP thanks to the forma- tion of M( • OH). g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 25 October 2015 Received in revised form 20 January 2016 Accepted 29 February 2016 Available online 2 March 2016 Keywords: Dimensionally stable anode Electro-oxidation Hydrocarbon Hydroxyl radical Water treatment a b s t r a c t After intense years of great development, the electrochemical technologies have become very suitable alternatives in niche markets like industrial wastewater reclamation and soil remediation. A key role to achieve a high efficiency in such treatments is played by the characteristics of the coating of the electrodes employed. This paper compares three techniques, namely immersion, painting and electrophoresis, for the preparation of IrO 2 -Ta 2 O 5 |Ti, so-called dimensionally stable anodes (DSA ® ). The quality of the coat- ings has been investigated by means of surface and electrochemical analysis. Their ability to generate hydroxyl radicals and degrade aqueous solutions of hydrocarbons like phenanthrene, naphthalene and ∗ Corresponding authors. E-mail addresses: i.sires@ub.edu (I. Sirés), ebustos@cideteq.mx (E. Bustos). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.02.076 0304-3894/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.