Abstract
Over the past few decades, antibiotics have been considered emerging pollutants due to their persistence in aquatic ecosystems. Even at low concentrations, these pollutants contribute to the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance, while their degradation is still a longstanding challenge for wastewater treatment. In the present literature survey, we review the recent advances in synergistic techniques for antibiotic degradation in wastewater that combine either ultrasound (US) or hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and oxidative, photo-catalytic, and enzymatic strategies. The degradation of sulfadiazine by HC/persulfate (PS)/H2O2/α-Fe2O3, US/PS/Fe0, and sono-photocatalysis with MgO@CNT nanocomposites processes; the degradation of tetracycline by US/H2O2/Fe3O4, US/O3/goethite, and HC/photocatalysis with TiO2 (P25) sono-photocatalysis with rGO/CdWO4 protocols; and the degradation of amoxicillin by US/Oxone®/Co2+ are discussed. In general, a higher efficiency of antibiotics removal and a faster structure degradation rate are reported under US or HC conditions as compared with the corresponding silent conditions. However, the removal of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride reached only 51% with US-assisted laccase-catalysis, though it was higher than those using US or enzymatic treatment alone. Moreover, a COD removal higher than 85% in several effluents of the pharmaceutical industry (500–7500 mg/L COD) was achieved by the US/O3/CuO process.
Highlights
Concern about wastewater treatment has recently increased tremendously due to the presence of pollutants from various industries
advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been defined as water-treatment processes that are based on the in situ generation of strong oxygen-based reactive species, which promote the destruction of the target pollutant in water via mineralization [8,9]
Heterogeneous hybrid systems have more recently emerged as effective app In this context, Hayaty et al, (2020) [48] exploited the addition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), forone the of aqueous containing non-biodegradable com as of decontamination the most frequently applied types ofsolutions surface modification, to enhance the catalytic activity magnesium oxide (MgO)
Summary
Concern about wastewater treatment has recently increased tremendously due to the presence of pollutants from various industries. Besides adsorption strategies [4] and hydrothermal treatments [5], advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are the most commonly employed and cost-effective technologies for the complete degradation of persistent organic contaminants, such as antibiotics, in wastewater [6,7]. Molecules 2021, 26, 617 against a wide range of bio-resistant organic contaminants, a poor mineralization (i.e., incomplete degradation), and the generation of toxic by-products [22] In this the development of hybrid AOPs which combine two or more individual AOPs. 1) has the potential to dramatically boost the degradation efficiency of organic c nants in wastewater treatments by reducing treatment times and increasing min tion yields [23,24,25].
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