Electrochemical removal of Cefixime antibiotic from aqueous solution

the presence of antibiotic compounds in surface waters is an emerging environmental issue. Pharmaceuticals industries, health attention centers (especially hospitals) or simple civil buildings represent important points of antibiotic discharge into the environment and produce a non negligible effect on the physical, chemical and biological composition of receptor water bodies [1]. In recent years, several wastewater treatment methods have been developed to remove toxic and biorefractory organic pollutants from wastewater [2, 3]. Among these methods, a great attention has been paid to the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). These methods are based on the in situ production of highly reactive species, the hydroxyl radicals (•OH), which react unselectively with organic matter unto its total or quasi-total mineralization [4]. Among AOPs, electrochemical advanced oxidation processes(EAOPs) have received an increasing attention because of their efficiency in the destruction of toxic/persistent organic pollutants, environmental safety and computability and versatility [5].One of the most popular EAOPs is the electro-Fenton process in which •OH are produced electrocatalytically through the Fen-ton reaction (1); H2O2 + Fe2+→ Fe3+ + OH− +•OH (1) In this study, the Cefixime antibiotic removal, from aqueous solutions, was studied using Electro-Fenton process. Cefixime is an antibiotic useful to treat a number of bacterial infections [6] . This includes otitis media, strep throat, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, gonorrhea, and Lyme disease[6] . The electro-Fenton experiments were carried out at room temperature, in an open electrolytic cell containing a graphite cathode and an Iron anode of 10 cm2 surface area. The electrolysis of Cefixime solutions were performed with a MEGATEK MP-3003D triple power supply at constant current density, in a non-divided cylindrical glass cell of 100 mL capacity. Homogenization of the electrolysis solution was ensured with a magnetic stirring. Aqueous solutions containing 45 ppm Cefixime and 20 ppm Na2SO4 were used for different trials. 13th Annual Electrochemistry Seminar of Iran Materials and Energy Research Center (MERC), 22- 23 Nov, 2017 92 Absorbance of drug solutions before electrolysis, and at different time during electrolysis, was determined using a uv-vis spectrophotometer. Effective factors on drug removal efficiency, such as H2O2 concentration, pH and current density, were optimized. The results showed that in optimized condition (11mM H2O2, pH 4 and current density of 10 mAcm-2), the percentage of drug removal after 1 hour electrolysis was 95%. Compared to the methods, reported in the literatures, the proposed method has the potential to remove higher concentrations of the drug.