Abstract
In this work, the electrolysis, photoelectrolysis and sonoelectrolysis with diamond electrodes of amoxicillin (AMX) and ampicillin (AMP) solutions were studied in the context of the search for technologies capable of removing antibiotics from liquid wastes. Single-irradiation processes (sonolysis and photolysis) were also evaluated for comparison. Results showed that AMX and AMP are completely degraded and mineralized by electrolysis in both chloride and sulfate media, although the efficiency is higher in the presence of chloride. The effect of the current density on mineralization efficiency is not relevant and this may be related to the role of mediated oxidation. Irradiation by ultraviolet light or ultrasound (US) waves does not produce a synergistic effect on the mineralization of AMX and AMP solutions. This indicates that the massive formation of radicals during the combined processes can favor their recombination to form stable and less reactive species.
Highlights
The development of modern society is providing continuous improvements to quality of life, increasing food production through the use of agrochemicals and improving health with the use of biologically active substances for the control of diseases
Solutions, current charge passed during the electrolysis of amoxicillin (AMX) and ampicillin (AMP) solutions, 2 can
The conductive diamond electrolysis is able to attain the complete mineralization of amoxicillin and ampicillin solutions
Summary
The development of modern society is providing continuous improvements to quality of life, increasing food production through the use of agrochemicals and improving health with the use of biologically active substances for the control of diseases. Antibiotics are worth highlighting because of their extensive consumption and extremely high potential environmental risks [3,4,5,6,7,8], reflected by the occurrence of super-bacteria, which are becoming a very serious health problem Often, these chemicals are not efficiently removed in conventional wastewater treatment facilities, and they are discharged into the environment where they are accumulated [9], altering the biological cycle of many types of organisms. The use of beta-lactam antibiotics, such as amoxicillin (AMX) and ampicillin (AMP), represented an important contribution to medical science from the end of World War II These medicines are still widely used because of their high efficiency, low cost and few side effects in humans. While ampicillin is more suitable for the treatment of respiratory tract infections, amoxicillin has several applications in infections of the skin and soft tissues, odontogenic infection, lower respiratory tract infection or Catalysts 2019, 9, 9; doi:10.3390/catal9010009 www.mdpi.com/journal/catalysts
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