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Biodegradability Improvement of Sulfamethazine Solutions by Means of an electro-Fenton Process

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Abstract

The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of an electro-Fenton pretreatment on the biodegradability of sulfamethazine-polluted solutions. The aim of the pretreatment was only to degrade this molecule in order to increase the biodegradability of the effluent and therefore allow a subsequent biological treatment. Preliminary tests showed the absence of biodegradability of the target compound. The degradation of sulfamethazine by electro-Fenton process was then examined using a carbon felt cathode and a platinum anode in an electrochemical reactor containing 1 L of solution. The influence of some experimental parameters such as initial concentration, temperature and current intensity on the degradation by electro-Fenton step has been investigated. In addition, the biodegradability of the solution after electrochemical pretreatment was examined and showed a Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5) on Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) ratio above the limit of biodegradability, namely 0.4, for several experimental conditions. The feasibility of coupling an electro-Fenton pretreatment with a biological degradation of by-products in order to mineralize polluted solutions of sulfamethazine was confirmed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Rennes 1, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes, CNRS, UMR 6226, Avenue du Général Leclerc, CS 50837, 35708, Rennes Cedex 7, France

    Dorsaf Mansour, Florence Fourcade & Abdeltif Amrane

  2. Laboratoire de Chimie Analytique et Électrochimie, Département de Chimie, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire, 2092, Tunis, Tunisie

    Dorsaf Mansour, Nizar Bellakhal & Mohamed Dachraoui

  3. Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes, CNRS, UMR 6226, Avenue du Général Leclerc, CS 50837, 35708, Rennes Cedex 7, France

    Didier Hauchard

  4. Institut National des Sciences Appliquées et de Technologie, B.P. No. 676, 1080, Tunis Cedex, Tunisie

    Dorsaf Mansour & Nizar Bellakhal

  5. Université Européenne de Bretagne, 35000, Rennes, France

    Dorsaf Mansour, Florence Fourcade, Didier Hauchard & Abdeltif Amrane

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  1. Dorsaf Mansour
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  2. Florence Fourcade
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  3. Nizar Bellakhal
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  4. Mohamed Dachraoui
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  5. Didier Hauchard
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  6. Abdeltif Amrane
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Correspondence to Abdeltif Amrane.

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Mansour, D., Fourcade, F., Bellakhal, N. et al. Biodegradability Improvement of Sulfamethazine Solutions by Means of an electro-Fenton Process. Water Air Soil Pollut 223, 2023–2034 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-1002-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-1002-7

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