Effective mineralization of anti-epilepsy drug carbamazepine in aqueous solution by simultaneously electro-generated H2O2/O3 process

A novel electro-generated hydroxyl radical ( OH) technique was constructed to effectively degrade the anti-epilepsy carbamazepine (CBZ) representing typical recalcitrant pharmaceutical only through electrochemical method as an alterative peroxone process. The technique involves simultaneously electro-generated H 2 O 2 using a carbon-polytetrafluoroethylene (C/PTFE) cathode to reduce the injected O 2 and electro-generated O 3 using H 2 O oxidation with a Ti mesh/PbO 2 anode in membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The significant OH formation through the synergetic system of in-situ produced H 2 O 2 and O 3 electrochemically could achieved carbamazepine decomposition and total organic carbon (TOC) removal as compared to electro-generated H 2 O 2 or O 3 alone. The main influential factors including current density and aqueous pH were investigated to reveal their effect on CBZ removal efficiencies. Under optimal parameters, CBZ decomposition and TOC mineralization could be completely accomplished after 10 min and 90 min electrolysis, respectively. According to intermediates distribution (e.g. hydroxylated CBZ, phenolics, and carboxylic acids) identified by HPLC-MS/MS, the degradation pathways were proposed for CBZ removal by the synergetic system of C/PTFE-O 2 and MEA. The above results indicated that this electrochemically synergetic system is a potential technique to further purify the water contaminated by recalcitrant pharmaceuticals.