Use of Electrochemical Processes for Treating Pharmaceutical Contaminated Water

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of two electrochemical processes (Electro-Fenton and Electrocoagulation) in degrading two different pharmaceutical contaminants, Atenolol and Nystatin. To achieve this objective, a series of experiments was conducted in a batch-mode electrochemical reactor using iron and aluminum electrodes. The results obtained demonstrated that for Atenolol, the EC process did not work well and led to unsatisfactory efficiency. To improve the situation, it was decided to adopt the Electro-Fenton process. The obtained results have demonstrated that the maximum degradation rate (90%) was achieved at an initial pH of 3, an H₂O₂ concentration of 8 mM, a current intensity of 0.25A, and an initial solution concentration of 1.87 * 10-5 mol/L (5mg/L). For Nystatin, remarkable degradation rates of around 99% were obtained using only the Electrocoagulation (EC) process with a neutral pH and an initial concentration of 2.69*10^-5mol/L.