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Jakóbczyk P, Skowierzak G, Kaczmarzyk I, Nadolska M, Wcisło A, Lota K, Bogdanowicz R, Ossowski T, Rostkowski P, Lota G, Ryl J. Electrocatalytic performance of oxygen-activated carbon fibre felt anodes mediating degradation mechanism of acetaminophen in aqueous environments. CHEMOSPHERE 2022; 304:135381. [PMID: 35716709 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Carbon felts are flexible and scalable, have high specific areas, and are highly conductive materials that fit the requirements for both anodes and cathodes in advanced electrocatalytic processes. Advanced oxidative modification processes (thermal, chemical, and plasma-chemical) were applied to carbon felt anodes to enhance their efficiency towards electro-oxidation. The modification of the porous anodes results in increased kinetics of acetaminophen degradation in aqueous environments. The utilised oxidation techniques deliver single-step, straightforward, eco-friendly, and stable physiochemical reformation of carbon felt surfaces. The modifications caused minor changes in both the specific surface area and total pore volume corresponding with the surface morphology. A pristine carbon felt electrode was capable of decomposing up to 70% of the acetaminophen in a 240 min electrolysis process, while the oxygen-plasma treated electrode achieved a removal yield of 99.9% estimated utilising HPLC-UV-Vis. Here, the electro-induced incineration kinetics of acetaminophen resulted in a rate constant of 1.54 h-1, with the second-best result of 0.59 h-1 after oxidation in 30% H2O2. The kinetics of acetaminophen removal was synergistically studied by spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques, revealing various reaction pathways attributed to the formation of intermediate compounds such as p-aminophenol and others. The enhancement of the electrochemical oxidation rates towards acetaminophen was attributed to the appearance of surface carbonyl species. Our results indicate that the best-performing plasma-chemical treated CFE follows a heterogeneous mechanism with only approx. 40% removal due to direct electro-oxidation. The degradation mechanism of acetaminophen at the treated carbon felt anodes was proposed based on the detected intermediate products. Estimation of the cost-effectiveness of removal processes, in terms of energy consumption, was also elaborated. Although the study was focussed on acetaminophen, the achieved results could be adapted to also process emerging, hazardous pollutant groups such as anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paweł Jakóbczyk
- Advanced Materials Center, Gdańsk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233, Gdańsk, Poland; Institute of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Kampinoska 25, 80-180, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Skowierzak
- Institute of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Kampinoska 25, 80-180, Gdańsk, Poland; Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Bazynskiego 8, 80-309, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Iwona Kaczmarzyk
- Advanced Materials Center, Gdańsk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Małgorzata Nadolska
- Advanced Materials Center, Gdańsk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Anna Wcisło
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Bazynskiego 8, 80-309, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Lota
- Łukasiewicz Research Network - Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals Division in Poznan, Central Laboratory of Batteries and Cells, Forteczna 12, 61-362, Poznan, Poland
| | - Robert Bogdanowicz
- Advanced Materials Center, Gdańsk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Tadeusz Ossowski
- Institute of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Kampinoska 25, 80-180, Gdańsk, Poland; Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Bazynskiego 8, 80-309, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Paweł Rostkowski
- NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Instituttveien 18, 2007, Kjeller, Norway
| | - Grzegorz Lota
- Łukasiewicz Research Network - Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals Division in Poznan, Central Laboratory of Batteries and Cells, Forteczna 12, 61-362, Poznan, Poland; Institute of Chemistry and Technical Electrochemistry, Poznan University of Technology, Berdychowo 4, 60-965, Poznan, Poland
| | - Jacek Ryl
- Advanced Materials Center, Gdańsk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233, Gdańsk, Poland.
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Pacheco-Álvarez M, Picos Benítez R, Rodríguez-Narváez OM, Brillas E, Peralta-Hernández JM. A critical review on paracetamol removal from different aqueous matrices by Fenton and Fenton-based processes, and their combined methods. CHEMOSPHERE 2022; 303:134883. [PMID: 35577132 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Paracetamol (PCT), also known as acetaminophen, is a drug used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. After consumption by animals and humans, it is excreted through the urine to the sewer systems, wastewater treatment plants, and other aquatic/natural environments. It has been detected in trace amounts in effluents of wastewater plant treatments, sewage sludge, hospital wastewaters, surface waters, and drinking water. PCT can cause genetic code damage, oxidative degradation of lipids, and denaturation of protein in cells, and its toxicity has been well-proven in bacteria, algae, macrophytes, protozoan, and fishes. To avoid its harmful health problems over living beings, powerful Fenton and Fenton-based treatments as pre-eminent advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been developed because of the inefficient treatment by conventional treatments. This paper presents a comprehensive and critical review over the application of such Fenton technologies to remove PCT from natural waters, synthetic wastewaters, and real wastewaters. The characteristics and main results obtained using Fenton, photo-Fenton, electro-Fenton, and photoelectro-Fenton are described, making special emphasis in the oxidative action of the generated reactive oxygen species. Hybrid processes based on the coupling with ultrasounds, gamma radiation, photocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis, zero-valent iron-activated persulfate, adsorption, and microbial fuel cells, are analyzed. Sequential treatments involving the initiation with plasma gliding arc discharge and post-biological process are detailed. Comparative results with other available AOPs are also described and discussed. Finally, 13 aromatic by-products and 9 short-linear aliphatic carboxylic acid detected during the PCT removal by Fenton and Fenton-based processes are reported, with the proposal of three parallel pathways for its initial degradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Pacheco-Álvarez
- Departamento de Química, DCNE, Universidad de Guanajuato, Cerro de la Venada s/n, Pueblito de Rocha, Guanajuato, C.P. 36040, Mexico
| | - Ricardo Picos Benítez
- Centro de Estudios Científicos y Tecnológicos No. 18, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 98160, Zacatecas, Zac., Mexico
| | - Oscar M Rodríguez-Narváez
- Dirección de Investigación y Soluciones Tecnológicas, Centro de Innovación Aplicado en Tecnologías Competitivas, Omega 201, Leon, Guanajuato, 37545, Mexico
| | - Enric Brillas
- Laboratori d'Electroquímica dels Materials i del Medi Ambient, Secció de Química Física, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1-11, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Juan M Peralta-Hernández
- Departamento de Química, DCNE, Universidad de Guanajuato, Cerro de la Venada s/n, Pueblito de Rocha, Guanajuato, C.P. 36040, Mexico.
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Luis López-Miranda J, Molina GA, Esparza R, Alexis González-Reyna M, Silva R, Estévez M. Ecofriendly and sustainable Sargassum spp.-based system for the removal of highly used drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic. ARAB J CHEM 2022; 15:104169. [PMID: 35957843 PMCID: PMC9356597 DOI: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2022.104169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Analgesic consumption increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. A high concentration of this kind of drug is discarded in the urine, reaching the effluents of rivers, lakes, and seas. These medicines have brought serious problems for the flora and, especially, the ecosystems’ fauna. This paper presents the results of removing diclofenac, ibuprofen, and paracetamol in an aqueous solution, using Sargassum spp. from the Caribbean coast. The study consisted of mixing each drug in an aqueous solution with functionalized Sargassum spp in a container under constant agitation. Therefore, this work represents an alternative to solve two of the biggest problems in recent years; first, the reduction of the overpopulation of sargassum through its use for the remediation of the environment. Second is the removal of drug waste used excessively during the COVID-19 pandemic. Liquid samples of the solution were taken at intervals of 10 min and analyzed by fluorescence to determine the concentration of the drug. The sorption capacity for diclofenac, ibuprofen, and paracetamol was 2.46, 2.08, and 1.41 μg/g, corresponding to 98 %, 84 %, and 54 % of removal, respectively. The removal of the three drugs was notably favored by increasing the temperature to 30 and 40 °C, reaching efficiencies close to 100 %. Moreover, the system maintains its effectiveness at various pH values. In addition, the Sargassum used can be reused for up to three cycles without reducing its removal capacity. The wide diversity of organic compounds favors the biosorption of drugs, removing them through various kinetic mechanisms. On the other hand, the Sargassum used in the drugs removal was analyzed by X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, TGA analysis, and scanning electron microscopy before and after removal. The results showed an evident modification in the structure and morphology of the algae and demonstrated the presence of the biosorbed drugs. Therefore, this system is sustainable, simple, economical, environmentally friendly, highly efficient, and scalable at a domestic and industrial level that can be used for aquatic remediation environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Luis López-Miranda
- Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Gustavo A Molina
- Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Rodrigo Esparza
- Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Marlen Alexis González-Reyna
- Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Rodolfo Silva
- Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Edificio 17, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Miriam Estévez
- Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230, Mexico
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