Electroflocculation is a wastewater treatment process that combines complex adsorption with redox, acid-base neutralization, and air flotation separation. The electroflocculation mechanism of MYAMollah et al. showed that positively charged flocculants and pollutant particles complexed and aggregated into clusters through electrostatic attraction and van der Waals forces to form settleable flocs for removal. Organic molecules can be decomposed into small molecules by anodic oxidation, which are easily adsorbed by flocculants, and dyes and dissolved metal ions can be separated from the water body by electroreduction deposition at the cathode. When the wastewater is alkaline, the metal ions produced by the anodic dissolution consume the excess OH ˉ in the wastewater through hydrolysis and complexation, which reduces the pH ; while for the acidic wastewater, the OH ˉ produced by the metal hydroxide and the cathode electrolyzed water can Consume H+ in wastewater to increase pH , so electroflocculation has the effect of neutralizing acid and alkali. In addition, when the flocs formed by the treatment of oily wastewater are light and difficult to settle, the cathodic hydrogen evolution or coupling subsequent electric flotation process can also be used, and the O2 and H2 ( diameter not exceeding 60 μm ) produced by the electrolyzed water can be used . During the floating process, the micro-light flocs are brought to the water surface to achieve the purpose of separation, and this process does not require external investment of reagents such as PAM and treatment of flocculated sludge. The electric float also has a certain function of electro-oxidation to remove COD .

Electroflocculation is a complex physical and chemical technology, and its core content is the generation of flocculants. Generally, flocculants with a low degree of polymerization remove pollutant particles by adsorption ; while flocculants with a high degree of polymerization have large surface area and many surface groups, and the pollutant particles are removed by net capture, but flocculants with a high degree of polymerization , the amount of subsequent sludge produced is relatively large, which increases the disposal cost. For the Al anode, the formation process of the electroflocculant is also affected by factors such as pH , Al3+ concentration, water composition, residence time, water flow mode and bubble generation rate.

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