Energy-Positive Removal of Norfloxacin in the Bioelectro Fenton System with Nanoferrite-Based Composite Electrodes

Abstract

The present work investigated the degradation of norfloxacin (NOR) antibiotics as a model pollutant in the bioelectro-Fenton (BEF) system. The BEF was catalyzed by three types of composite electrodes incorporated with nanoferrites, that is, Fe 3 O 4 , Fe 3 O 4 @MoS 2 , and CuFe 2 O 4 as heterogeneous Fenton catalysts at three pH levels (3, 7, and 9). The synthesized materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The anode chambers were inoculated with anaerobic digestion (AD) sludge and marine sludge. The highest current and power output were evident in a reactor (BEF 2) inoculated with marine sludge, and this phenomenon influenced the NOR removal as well. Among the composite catalysts, Fe 3 O 4 exhibited the best performance in terms of NOR degradation (ca. 90%), followed by CuFe 2 O 4 and Fe 3 O 4 @MoS 2 (82−87 and 80−86%, respectively) at pH 3 using AD sludge and marine sludge. The BEF system with all composite electrodes produced negligible concentration of residual iron, which was far below the permissible limit of China and European Union. The microbial community analyses showed Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria as the dominant phyla in both inocula. The results indicated that using the BEF system with composite electrodes is a promising approach to not only remove biorecalcitrant pollutants but also generate more bioelectricity.

Bioelectrochemical cells as a green energy source for electrochemical treatment of water and wastewater

“…BEC-EF systems have also been studied as an effective technology for the degradation of other pharmaceuticals such as Tetracycline Hydrochloride [148], Triphenyltin Chloride [149], 17β-Estradiol and 17α-Ethynyl-Estradiol [150] and Norfloxacin [151]. In all cases, the H2O2 electrogenerated was catalytically activated to • OH by leached Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ and solid Fe III /Fe II redox couples at the surface of the cathode.…”

Iron Oxide Anchored on Porous Carbon Derived from Metal–Organic Frameworks as an Efficient Catalyst toward In Situ Generation of H2O2 and a Hydroxyl Radical for Methylene Blue Degradation in Microbial Fuel Cells

“…Depending on how and where H 2 O 2 is generated, electro-Fenton systems coupled with MFC can be classified into in situ coupled systems and heterogeneous coupled systems. , The H 2 O 2 production and in situ utilization are still the challenges of the MFC-EF system. A bioelectro-Fenton (BEF) cathode chamber can effectively mineralize difficult-to-degrade organic compounds, such as dyes, antibiotics, p -nitrophenols, estrogens, etc. − A dual-chamber MFC in situ, which produces H 2 O 2 has been developed by Zhu et al An external iron source was used to produce hydroxyl radicals, which were capable of degrading nitrobenzol with an efficiency of 100% for nitrobenzol removal and 85% for total organic carbon (TOC) removal, respectively. The maximum amount of H 2 O 2 generated in situ using a Fe@Fe 2 O 3 /graphite felt composite cathode in MFC was 135.96 μmol/L, and the degradation efficiency of triphenyltin chloride (TPTC) reached 78.32 ± 2.07% by Yong et al Feng et al treated wastewater at neutral pH with the BEF process, which achieved complete decolorization and mineralization of orange-yellow II at neutral pH and a maximum power of 230 mW/m 2 .…”

Pick-up of fluoroquinolones from the aqueous phase via magnetically propeled microrobots: kinetics, thermodynamics, and site energy distribution analysis

“…Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are extensively consumed for disease prevention and growth promotion in animal breeding and aquaculture (Coffie et al, 2021). Mariculture tailwater has drawn much attention, as it brings serious eutrophication offshore and damage to the surrounding estuary ecosystems (Gao et al, 2022).…”