Elimination of recalcitrant micropollutants by medium pressure UV-catalyzed bioelectrochemical advanced oxidation process: Influencing factors, transformation pathway and toxicity assessment

Rusen Zou, Kai Tang, Adam C. Hambly, Ravi Kumar Chhetri, Henrik Rasmus Andersen, Yifeng Zhang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

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Abstract

Bio-electro-Fenton (BEF) processes have been widely studied in recent years to remove recalcitrant micropollutants from wastewater. Though promising, it still faces the critical challenge of residual iron and iron sludge in the treated effluent. Thus, an innovative medium-pressure ultraviolet-catalyzed bio-electrochemical system (MUBEC), in which medium-pressure ultraviolet was employed as an alternative to iron for in-situ H2O2 activation, was developed for the removal of recalcitrant micropollutants. The influence of operating parameters, including initial catholyte pH, cathodic aeration rate, and input voltage, on the system performance, was explored. Results indicated that complete reduction of 10 mg L−1 of model micro-pollutants ibuprofen (IBU) and carbamazepine (CBZ) was achieved at pH 3, with an aeration rate of 1 mL min−1 and a voltage of 0.3 V, following pseudo-first-order kinetics. Moreover, potential transformation pathways and the associated intermediates during the degradation were deduced and detected, respectively. Thus, the MUBEC system shows the potential for the efficient and cost-effective degradation of recalcitrant micropollutants from wastewater.
Original languageEnglish
Article number154543
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume828
Number of pages12
ISSN0048-9697
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • Micropollutants
  • Medium pressure UV
  • Bio-electro-Fenton
  • H2O2
  • Wastewater treatment
  • Ecotoxicity

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