The Application of Electrocoagulation in Textile Wastewater Treatment- A Scoping Review of Recent Trends (2021-2025)

Nowadays, electrochemical wastewater treatment methods are receiving increasing interest among researchers to overcome the limitations of conventional chemical and biological treatment methods. Electrocoagulation (EC) is one of the methods that generates in-situ coagulants via electrically oxidizing a sacrificial anode. Through a scoping review, this study aims to identify and analyse the state-of-the-art in EC application for the treatment of synthetic textile dye effluents. This study was conducted following the PRISMA protocol on the Scopus database from 2021 to 2025. This work mapped the research trend on EC, its application mechanism, and advancements for improved efficiency. It further investigated the modelling techniques and hybrid technologies integrated with electrocoagulation and identifies the research gap from the literature. The results show a steep increase in publications over the years, with most originating in Asia, demonstrating to be effective in treating a wide range of dyes. Several factors directly controls the electrochemical reactions and some indirectly affects the performance. Overall, while EC treatment demonstrates strong performance at lab scale, most literature reviewed in this study were conducted under controlled conditions with limited evidence for industrial scale feasibility for long-term and continuous flow management. For optimization, RSM, with Central Composite, and Box-Behnken Designs, is the most widely used modelling technique, and integration of advanced techniques such as ozonation, the Fenton process, catalyst addition, and sonication shows the potential to achieve enhanced wastewater treatment efficiency. Further integration of AI shows future direction towards enhance process control in EC.