Ti4O7 Anode Research Articles

Boosted Electrocatalytic Degradation of Levofloxacin by Chloride Ions: Performances Evaluation and Mechanism Insight with Different Anodes.

As chloride (Cl-) is a commonly found anion in natural water, it has a significant impact on electrocatalytic oxidation processes; yet, the mechanism of radical transformation on different types of anodes remains unexplored. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the influence of chlorine-containing environments on the electrocatalytic degradation performance of levofloxacin using BDD, Ti4O7, and Ru-Ti electrodes. The comparative analysis of the electrode performance demonstrated that the presence of Cl- improved the removal and mineralization efficiency of levofloxacin on all the electrodes. The enhancement was the most pronounced on the Ti4O7 electrode and the least significant on the Ru-Ti electrode. The evaluation experiments and EPR characterization revealed that the increased generation of hydroxyl radicals and active chlorine played a major role in the degradation process, particularly on the Ti4O7 anode. The electrochemical performance tests indicated that the concentration of Cl- affected the oxygen evolution potentials of the electrode and consequently influenced the formation of hydroxyl radicals. This study elucidates the mechanism of Cl- participation in the electrocatalytic degradation of chlorine-containing organic wastewater. Therefore, the highly chlorine-resistant electrocatalytic anode materials hold great potential for the promotion of the practical application of the electrocatalytic treatment of antibiotic wastewater.

Electrooxidation of chlorophene and dichlorophen by reactive electrochemical membrane: Key determining factors of removal efficiency

This study systematically investigated the variable main electrooxidation mechanism of chlorophene (CP) and dichlorophen (DCP) with the change of reaction conditions at Ti4O7 anode operated in batch and reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) modes. Significant degradation of CP and DCP was observed, that is, CP exhibited greater removal efficiency in batch mode at 0.5–3.5 mA cm−2 and REM operation (0.5 mA cm−2) with a permeate flow rate of 0.85 cm min−1 under the same reaction conditions, while DCP exhibited a faster degradation rate with the increase of current density in REM operation. Density functional theory (DFT) simulation and electrochemical performance tests indicated that the electrooxidation efficiency of CP and DCP in batch mode was primarily affected by the mass transfer rates. And the removal efficiency when anodic potentials were less than 1.7 V vs SHE in REM operation was determined by the activation energy for direct electron transfer (DET) reaction, however, the adsorption function of CP and DCP on the Ti4O7 anode became a dominant factor in determining the degradation efficiency with the further increase of anodic potential due to the disappeared activation barrier. In addition, the degradation pathways of CP and DCP were proposed according to intermediate products identification and frontier electron densities (FEDs) calculation, the acute toxicity of CP and DCP were also effectively decreased during both batch and REM operations.

Sequential anodic oxidation and cathodic electro-Fenton in the Janus electrified membrane for reagent-free degradation of pollutants

Electrified membrane technologies have recently demonstrated high potential in tackling water pollution, yet their practical applications are challenged by relying on large precursor doses. Here, we developed a Janus porous membrane (JPEM) with synergic direct oxidation by Magnéli phase Ti4O7 anode and electro-Fenton reactions by CuFe2O4 cathode. Organic pollutants were first directly oxidized on the Ti4O7 anode, where the extracted electrons from pollutants were transported to the cathode for electro-Fenton production of hydroxyl radical (·OH). The cathodic ·OH further enhanced the mineralization of organic pollutant degradation intermediates. With the sequential anodic and cathodic oxidation processes, the reagent-free JPEM showed competitive performance in rapid degradation (removal rate of 0.417 mg L−1 s−1) and mineralization (68.7 % decrease in TOC) of sulfamethoxazole. The JPEM system displayed general performance to remove phenol, carbamazepine, and perfluorooctanoic acid. The JPEM runs solely on electricity and oxygen that is comparable to that of PEM relies on large precursor doses and, therefore, operation friendly and environmental sustainability. The high pollutant removal and mineralization achieved by rational design of the reaction processes sheds light on a new approach for constructing an efficient electrified membrane.

Electrochemical Oxidation of Organic Pollutants in Aqueous Solution Using a Ti4O7 Particle Anode.

Anodes based on substoichiometric titanium oxide (Ti4O7) are among the most effective for the anodic oxidation of organic pollutants in aqueous solutions. Such electrodes can be made in the form of semipermeable porous structures called reactive electrochemical membranes (REMs). Recent work has shown that REMs with large pore sizes (0.5-2 mm) are highly efficient (comparable or superior to boron-doped diamond (BDD) anodes) and can be used to oxidize a wide range of contaminants. In this work, for the first time, a Ti4O7 particle anode (with a granule size of 1-3 mm and forming pores of 0.2-1 mm) was used for the oxidation of benzoic, maleic and oxalic acids and hydroquinone in aqueous solutions with an initial COD of 600 mg/L. The results demonstrated that a high instantaneous current efficiency (ICE) of about 40% and a high removal degree of more than 99% can be achieved. The Ti4O7 anode showed good stability after 108 operating hours at 36 mA/cm2.

Electrochemical oxidation of phenol in chloride containing electrolyte using a carbon-coated Ti4O7 anode

Magnéli-phase Ti4O7 is an excellent anode material for electrochemical advanced oxidation process (EAOP). However, the development of Ti4O7 electrodes is always limited by the high cost and high energy consumption in their preparation process. In this study, the carbon-coated Ti4O7 electrode was successfully synthesized by an in-situ pyrolysis method, which exhibited high specific surface area (143.8 m2 g−1) and efficient electron transfer (47.3 Ω). The accelerated service life was measured to be 102.5 h, demonstrating its excellent stability. EAOP performance of the C-coated Ti4O7 electrode was evaluated under various operating conditions. The result showed that a complete degradation of phenol (100 mg L−1) was obtained in 60 min, under the condition of 0.1 M NaCl electrolyte and 20 mA cm−2 current density. Owing to the high oxygen evolution potential (OEP, 2.25 V vs. RHE) of the C-coated Ti4O7 electrode, high TOC removal ratio (68.9%) and low energy consumption (113.8 kWh kg−1TOC) were achieved under the optimal condition. Moreover, the mechanism of phenol degradation was investigated by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and free radical scavenging experiments. The results indicated that the degradation of phenol can be mainly attributed to the synergistic effects between adsorbed ·OH (M(·OH)) and Cl−, rather than the direct electron transfer process (DET) on the surface of the C-coated Ti4O7 electrode. This study provides an efficient strategy for the mineralization of phenolic wastewater by the C-coated Ti4O7 electrode.

A facile synthesis of a novel Ti4O7 anode rich in oxygen defects and its electrochemical oxidation of florfenicol: Performance and mechanism

A novel Ti4O7-E/F (E for etching, F for fluorination) anode with a high oxygen defect ratio of 70.6% was successfully synthesized using surface etching and fluorination methodologies for the first time and its electrochemical oxidation performance and mechanism were systematically evaluated. The prepared Ti4O7-E/F anode demonstrated a long-term stability over 43 cycles for efficient removal of florfenicol (FLO) as the target pollutant with the antibacterial activity of FLO completely eliminated within 30 min, no FLO detected in 45 min and the mineralization ratio up to 96.1% after electrolysis of 180 min. Meanwhile, the production rate of hydroxyl radical (•OH) by Ti4O7-E/F was 1.38–3.2 times that of Ti4O7. In addition, the acute and chronic toxicity of FLO and its degradation products were significantly reduced after the Ti4O7-E/F electrochemical oxidation. This study provides theoretical guidance for the rational design of high-performance anodes in electrochemical oxidation processes.

Mechanistic study of electrooxidation of coexisting chloramphenicol and natural organic matter: Performance, DFT calculation and removal route

The electrooxidation performance of coexisting chloramphenicol (CAP) and natural organic matter (NOM) by Ti4O7 anode was systematically investigated in this study. Intrinsic reaction kinetics showed that the removal of CAP followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, 72.42 ± 0.20 % removal with 40.79 ± 0.41 % mineralization rate of CAP was achieved in 60 min using 5 mA cm−2. The oxidation mechanisms of CAP were elucidated by density functional theory (DFT) simulations and experiments involving hydroxyl free radical (•OH) scavenger, which indicated that the efficient degradation of CAP was attributed to the combined action of •OH attack and direct electron transfer (DET) reaction. The degradation pathway of CAP was proposed based on frontier electron densities (FEDs) calculation and intermediate products identification, and less ecological risks of CAP degradation solution were also proved by acute toxicity test. Humic acid (HA), selected as the typical NOM, could inhibit the degradation of CAP to a certain extent by competitive action for electrooxidation with effective removal and mineralization of HA, which was further confirmed based on real wastewater treatment experiments. Specifically, the degree of humification and aromaticity of HA was weakened, and some complex small molecular organic matters such as aromatic proteins were generated. These findings proved the feasibility of Ti4O7 anode electrooxidation to remove CAP antibiotics and organic matter from water, in consideration of the potential negative role of CAP and organic matter for ecological environment and human health.

A Case Study of Swine Wastewater Treatment via Electrochemical Oxidation by Ti4O7 Anode.

With the rapid development of breeding industry, the efficient treatment of dramatically increasing swine wastewater is gradually becoming urgent. In particular, the development of application technologies suitable for the relatively small piggeries is critical due to the time cost and space requirements of conventional biological methods. In this study, Electrochemical oxidation (EO) was selected to systematically explore the treatment performance of three different swine wastewaters by Ti4O7 anode. It was observed that the colors changed from dark brown to light yellow after 60 min treatment at 50 mA/cm2, and the removal rates of turbidity and suspended solids ranged from 89.36% to 93.65% and 81.31% to 92.55%, respectively. The chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and total phosphorus (TP) of all the three swine wastewaters were simultaneously removed to a very low concentration in 120 min, especially for sample III, 61 ± 9 mg/L of COD, 6.6 ± 0.4 mg/L of NH3-N and 5.7 ± 1.1 mg/L of TP, which met the Discharge Standard of Pollutants for Livestock and Poultry Breeding (GB 18596-2001). Moreover, 70.93%-85.37% mineralization rates were also achieved in 120 min, confirming that EO treatment by Ti4O7 could efficiently remove the organic matters in wastewater. Excitation-emission matrix (EEM) and UV-vis spectrum characterization results further proved that aromatic compounds and macromolecules in wastewater were rapidly removed, which played important roles in the mineralization processes. The findings here provided an efficient and environment-friendly technology for swine wastewater treatment.

Formation of chlorate and perchlorate during electrochemical oxidation by Magnéli phase Ti4O7 anode: inhibitory effects of coexisting constituents

Formation of chlorate (ClO3−) and perchlorate (ClO4−) as by-products in electrooxidation process has raised concern. In the present study, the formation of ClO3− and ClO4− in the presence of 1.0 mM Cl− on boron doped diamond (BDD) and Magneli phase titanium suboxide (Ti4O7) anodes were evaluated. The Cl− was transformed to ClO3− (temporal maximum 276.2 μM) in the first 0.5 h on BDD anodes with a constant current density of 10 mA cm2, while approximately 1000 μM ClO4− was formed after 4.0 h. The formation of ClO3− on the Ti4O7 anode was slower, reaching a temporary maximum of approximately 350.6 μM in 4.0 h, and the formation of ClO4− was also slower on the Ti4O7 anode, taking 8.0 h to reach 780.0 μM. Compared with the BDD anode, the rate of ClO3− and ClO4− formation on the Ti4O7 anode were always slower, regardless of the supporting electrolytes used in the experiments, including Na2SO4, NaNO3, Na2B4O7, and Na2HPO4. It is interesting that the formation of ClO4− during electrooxidation was largely mitigated or even eliminated, when methanol, KI, and H2O2 were included in the reaction solutions. The mechanism of the inhibition on Cl− transformation by electrooxidation was explored.

Electrooxidation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in chloride-containing water on surface-fluorinated Ti4O7 anodes: Mitigation and elimination of chlorate and perchlorate formation

Electrooxidation (EO) has been shown effective in degrading per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in water, but concurrent formation of chlorate and perchlorate in the presence of chloride is of concern due to their toxicity. This study examined EO treatment of three representative PFASs, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2 FTS), in chloride-containing solutions on pristine and surface-fluorinated Ti4O7 anodes having different percentage of surface fluorination. The experiment results indicate that surface fluorination of Ti4O7 anodes slightly inhibited PFAS degradation, while significantly decreased the formation of chlorate and perchlorate. Further studies with spectroscopic and electrochemical characterizations and density functional theory (DFT) computation reveal the mechanisms of the impact on EO performance by anode fluorination. In particular, chlorate and perchlorate formation were fully inhibited when fluorinated Ti4O7 anode was used in reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) under a proper anodic potential range (<3.0 V vs Standard Hydrogen Electrode), resulting from slower intermediate reaction steps and short residence time of the REM system. The results of this study provide a basis for design and optimization of modified Ti4O7 anodes for efficient EO treatment of PFAS while limiting chlorate and perchlorate formation.

Electrochemical oxidation combined with UV irradiation for synergistic removal of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in water

The effect of electrochemical degradation on Magnéli phase Ti4O7 anode combined with UV irradiation on the removal of PFOS was systematically evaluated in the present study. A synergistic effect of electrolysis and UV irradiation rather than a simple additive effect for PFOS degradation was demonstrated experimentally and theoretically. The short wavelength irradiation within 400 nm is the main contribution to enhance the electrochemical degradation of PFOS, while the initial pH of the solution has little effect on the PFOS degradation. The increase of current density accelerates the removal of PFOS either by electrolysis treatment or the joint process. The time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculation indicates that the synergistic effect of the electrolysis and UV irradiation is most likely due to the involvement of the excited PFOS induced under UV irradiation in the electrochemical reaction. This study provides the first mechanistic explanation for the electrochemical degradation of PFOS enhanced by UV irradiation.

High-Performance Electrochemical Degradation of Methylene Blue by a Ti4O7 Anode Prepared via Industrial Tailing Titanium Powder

High-Performance Electrochemical Degradation of Methylene Blue by a Ti4O7 Anode Prepared via Industrial Tailing Titanium Powder

Insights into the electrooxidation of florfenicol by a highly active La-doped Ti4O7 anode

In this study, a novel active La-doped Ti4O7 (La-Ti4O7) electrode was fabricated through a simple one-step spark plasma sintering method. Characterization results revealed that La was successfully incorporated into the crystal lattice of Ti4O7, leading to an increase in the surface oxygen vacancy content (from 26% to 31%), oxygen evolution potential (from 2.24 to 2.75 V vs SCE), hydroxyl radical yield [•OH, from 0.123 to 0.205 μmol/(min·cm2)] and interfacial charge-transfer rate compared to pristine Ti4O7. La-Ti4O7 electrodes achieved efficient anodic oxidation of florfenicol (FLO, one of the most widely used antibiotics), which mainly due to the indirect oxidation mediated by electro-generated •OH. The degradation of FLO by La-Ti4O7 electrodes fitted well with the pseudo-first-order kinetic model, and the optimal degradation rate constant (kFLO, 0.021 min−1) was achieved by 1.60% La-Ti4O7 electrode. In addition, the degradation efficiency of FLO increased with the increasing current density, decreasing pH and co-existing Cl-, while an opposite pattern was observed with co-existing NO3–. Seven degradation products of FLO were identified by UPLC-MS/MS. The main degradation pathways included hydrolysis, hydroxylation, dechlorination and C-N bonds cleavage. The energy consumption (EC) for FLO degradation ranged from 1.91 to 29.53 Wh/L, and the optimal practical conditions were obtained by the analysis of the calculated ratios of kFLO and EC. Moreover, La-Ti4O7 electrode maintained excellent removal efficiency of FLO (>93.5%) within 20 degradation cycles. This study suggested that La-Ti4O7 is a promising anodic material for the efficient treatment of FLO-polluted water.

Electrochemical removal of 4-chlorophenol in water using a porous Magnéli-phase (Ti4O7) electrode

Electro-oxidation is a promising technology for removal of refractory organic pollutants. While the appeal of this technology lies in its chemical-free nature, commercially scale-up application may be limited by the availability of electrode materials and mass transport. Here we report the development of a flow-through electro-oxidation system for removal of chlorophenols in water using Magnéli-phase (Ti4O7) tubular anode and a 304 stainless steel (SS) tubular cathode. The key to this system was the porous and conductive Magnéli-phase Ti4O7 anode, the structure and composition of which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. System efficacy was evaluated by using 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) as a typical refractory contaminant and model chlorophenol. Under optimized conditions, a complete removal of 4-CP could be obtained within 120 min in 0.04 mol L−1 Na2SO4 solution. Electro-produced HO• and direct electron transfer were both shown to contribute to the 4-CP electro-oxidation process due to the high selectivity and oxygen evolution potential of the Ti4O7 anode. The intermediates of 4-CP degradation were identified and a pathway for its electro-oxidation was proposed. When challenged with industrial wastewater containing 4-CP, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon removal efficiencies of 67.5% and 63.1% respectively could be obtained, accounting for energy consumption of 85.1 kWh·kg COD−1 for degradation of 1 kg of COD in industrial wastewater. This study provides an effective and robust solution for the removal of refractory emerging contaminants from industrial wastewaters using a continuous-flow electro-oxidation system.

Exploring the potential application of hybrid permonosulfate/reactive electrochemical ceramic membrane on treating humic acid-dominant wastewater

Discharge of untreated or improperly managed landfill leachate could pose a significant threat on environment due to the high strength of complex inorganic composition and abundant refractory humic acid (HA). This is the first work introducing a promising energy efficient technology using Ti4O7 anode reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) coupled with permonosulfate (PMS) to address HA-enriched wastewater. The removal performance, possible generation of reactive species along with reaction mechanisms in PMS/REM system were proposed and compared with the traditional REM system. Regardless of electrical potential, chlorine concentration, water flux and PMS dosage (with similar ionic strength by adding SO42- for REM alone), the hybrid PMS/REM system prevails the REM system alone in terms of HA degradation and energy efficiency. However, the extent of removal performance is also largely dependent upon specific condition. An increase in PMS dosage and anode electrical potential was beneficial for HA degradation, but addition of chloride imposed adverse effects on HA removal efficiency. Of those parameters, the influence of water flux on HA degradation was trivial. Compared to REM alone, in which HA was mostly removed via electrosorption, PMS/REM system, otherwise, significantly enhanced mineralization of HA. The electron paramagnetic resonance experiments demonstrated the absence of sulfate radical (SO4•-) in the PMS/REM system and implied that the more efficient performance of the hybrid system over the REM system was likely ascribed to the higher yield of hydroxyl radical (•OH). Besides, nonradical oxidation also played an important role in the PMS/REM system with the formation of a transition state of PMS molecule (PMS*), which could facilitate •OH production by inhibiting oxygen evolution site reactions.

Electro-Enhanced Activation of Peroxymonosulfate by a Novel Perovskite-Doped Ti4o7 Anode with Ultra-High Efficiency and Low Energy Consumption: The Generation and Dominant Role of Singlet Oxygen

Electro-Enhanced Activation of Peroxymonosulfate by a Novel Perovskite-Doped Ti4o7 Anode with Ultra-High Efficiency and Low Energy Consumption: The Generation and Dominant Role of Singlet Oxygen

Combined Electro-Fenton and Anodic Oxidation Processes at a Sub-Stoichiometric Titanium Oxide (Ti4O7) Ceramic Electrode for the Degradation of Tetracycline in Water

The mineralization of tetracycline by electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) as well as the study of the toxicity of its intermediates and degradation products are presented. Electro-Fenton (EF), anodic oxidation (AO), and electro-Fenton coupled with anodic oxidation (EF/AO) were used to degrade tetracycline on carbon felt (cathode) and a sub-stoichiometric titanium oxide (Ti4O7) layer deposited on Ti (anode). As compared to EF and AO, the coupled EF/AO system resulted in the highest pollutant removal efficiencies: total organic carbon removal was 69 ± 1% and 68 ± 1%, at 20 ppm and 50 ppm of initial concentration of tetracycline, respectively. The effect of electrolysis current on removal efficiency, mineralization current efficiency, energy consumption, and solution toxicity of tetracycline mineralization were investigated for 20 ppm and 50 ppm tetracycline. The EF/AO process using a Ti4O7 anode and CF cathode provides low energy and high removal efficiency of tetracycline caused by the production of hydroxyl radicals both at the surface of the non-active Ti4O7 electrode and in solution by the electro-Fenton process at the cathodic carbon felt. Complete removal of tetracycline was observed from HPLC data after 30 min at optimized conditions of 120 mA and 210 mA for 20 ppm and 50 ppm tetracycline concentrations. Degradation products were elucidated, and the toxicity of the products were measured with luminescence using Microtox® bacteria toxicity test.

An electrocoagulation and electrooxidation treatment train to remove and degrade per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in aqueous solution

This study examined the feasibility of a novel treatment train that combines electrocoagulation (EC) with electrooxidation (EO) treatment to remove and degrade per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from water. Electrocoagulation with a zinc anode could effectively remove PFASs from water, and long-chain PFASs (C7–C10) tended to have a higher removal rate. Foam was generated when a relatively high current density (>1 mA cm−2) was applied to a relatively high PFAS concentration (each PFAS > 0.1 μM) during EC, which promoted the separation of PFASs from the bulk solution, especially for long-chain PFASs. Isotherm-like adsorption results indicated that competitive adsorption on floc occurred between PFASs when no foam was produced in a solution containing 10 different PFASs. Acid dissolution methods could recover and concentrate 10 PFASs in controlled volumes from both the floc and the foam, and it was also successfully applied in groundwater collected from a contaminated site. The concentrated PFASs in the acid solutions were efficiently destructed using EO treatment with a Ti4O7 anode at 10 mA cm−2, and no supplement of electrolyte was needed for the floc dissolved solution. This electrochemical-based process can economically separate, concentrate and destroy PFASs in groundwater and wastewater.

Treatment of perfluoroalkyl acids in concentrated wastes from regeneration of spent ion exchange resin by electrochemical oxidation using Magnéli phase Ti4O7 anode

This study investigated the treatment of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in still bottoms during electrochemical oxidation using Magnéli phase titanium suboxide (Ti4O7) as the anode. Still bottoms are wastes produced from regeneration of saturated ion exchange resin (IXR) by a solution containing high salt content and methanol followed by distillation to remove the methanol. All 10 monitored PFAAs were effectively degraded by electrochemical oxidation (EO) on a Magnéli phase Ti4O7 anode, and the removal was 61.1% after 40 h EO treatment of a still bottoms sample that was produced from the use of a typical regenerant containing 2% NaCl and 80% methanol by mass. Total Organic Carbon (TOC) destruction exceeded 79% in this treatment. Chlorate (ClO3−) and perchlorate (ClO4−) were formed after 8 h and reached a maximum of 2.3 mM and 2.2 mM, respectively, after 40 h. To minimize perchlorate generation by EO, five other salts were also tested instead of NaCl to regenerate IXR that had treated groundwater containing PFAAs. The regenerant containing NaI exhibited the greatest PFAAs elution, comparable to that of NaCl. EO treatment of the still bottoms produced from the NaI regenerant for 200 h led to a total of 98.1% removal of all 10 monitored PFAAs. No ClO3− or ClO4− was detected after 100 h of EO treatment. It was found that the methanol residue in still bottoms effectively suppressed the formation of ClO3− and ClO4− during electrooxidation by scavenging chlorine radicals. The results of this study demonstrate the promise of coupling regenerable IXR technology and EO for removing PFAAs from water and destroying them onsite.

Simultaneous removal of multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serotype typhimurium, antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes from water by electrooxidation on a Magnéli phase Ti4O7 anode

Antibiotics and multidrug resistant bacteria are present extensively in different environmental matrices, and considered as contaminants of emerging concern. This study evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of using electrooxidation (EO) with Magnéli phase Ti4O7 anode to simultaneously remove bacterial pathogens, antibiotics and antibacterial resistance genes (ARGs) from water. A model pathogen, multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium DT104, was completely deactivated with 6.2 log reduction in 15 min at the current density of 10.0 mA cm−2, while ARGs (i.e., TetG, floR and sul1), class 1 integron gene (intI1) and virulence genes (invA and spvC) that were contained in the pathogen were removed by as much as 99.65% to 99.94%. Model antibiotics, tetracycline (TC) and sulfadimethoxine (SDM), were degraded 97.95 % and 93.42 % in the same EO treatment system within 3 h. It was found that both direct electron transfer (DET) and OH-mediated oxidation played important roles in the removal of the ARGs during the EO process. EO may be a promising tool to control the spread of antibiotic resistence by removing pathogens, antibiotics and ARGs simultaneously.