Effective degradation of bentazone by two-dimensional and three-phase, three-dimensional electro-oxidation system: kinetic studies and optimization using ANN

Bentazone is a broad-leaved weed-specific herbicide in the pesticide industry. This study focused on removing bentazone from water using three different methods: a two and three-dimensional electro-oxidation process (2D/EOP and 3D/EOP) with a fluid-type reactor arrangement using tetraethylenepentamine-loaded particle electrodes and an adsorption method. Additionally, we analysed the effects of two types of supporting electrolytes (Na₂SO₄ and NaCl) on the degradation process. The energy consumption amounts were calculated to evaluate the obtained results. The degradation reaction occurs 3.5 times faster in 3D/EOP than in 2D/EOP at 6 V in Na₂SO₄. Similarly, the degradation reaction of bentazone in NaCl occurs 2.5 times faster in 3D/EOP than in 2D/EOP at a value of 7.2 mA/cm². Removal of bentazone is significantly better in 3D/EOPs than in 2D/EOPs. The use of particle electrodes can significantly enhance the degradation efficiency. The study further assessed the prediction abilities of the machine learning model (ANN). The ANN presented reasonable accuracy in bentazone degradation with high R² values of 0.97953, 0.98561, 0.98563, and 0.99649 for 2D with Na₂SO₄, 2D with NaCl, 3D with Na₂SO₄, and 3D with NaCl, respectively.