Electrocatalytic reduction and characterization of Tetrachlorvinphos in acetonitrile-water (1:1) media in presence of cyanocobalamin

Abstract

This work investigates a possible electrocatalytic degradation of tetrachlorvinphos pesticide in acetonitrile-water media using cyanocobalamin as the catalyst. The catalyst and its derivatives are employed in some organic synthesis due to their ability to form and selectively cleave Co-C bonds. There is inadequate data from previous related works. This study explores possible electrocatalytic route for degradation of tetrachlorvinphos using the catalyst at temperature of 24 ± 1° by cyclic voltammetry method. Tetrachlorvinphos exhibited two consecutive reduction peaks at ~-0.710 ± 0.004 V and ~ -1.096 ± 0.029 V Versus Ag/AgCl. The second reduction peak registered a diffusion coefficient value of 3.68 x 10-5 cm2s-1 and current density of be 5.83 x 10-5 A/cm2. The reduction potential for tetrachlorvinphos in presence of cyanocobalamin was observed to be -0.923 ± 0.03 V versus Ag/AgCl. The diffusion coefficient and current density value was reported at 3.37 x 10-5 cm2s-1 and 2.56 X 10-5 A/cm2 respectively for an electro-reduction process. This implies that, catalytic reduction of the pesticide occurred at a significantly lower potential compared to direct reduction. The over potential saving of about 0.168 V is an indication of the catalyst efficiency on the pesticide degradation.