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Degradation of Aspirin in a Microbial Fuel Cell Powered Electro-Fenton System Using an Etched Graphite Felt Cathode

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Abstract

Pharmaceutical wastewater containing contaminants like aspirin, ofloxacin, and amoxicillin are emerging as a worldwide issue due to its significant effects on the ecosystem and public health. In this study, wastewater containing aspirin was treated by using Mn3O4 etched graphite felt (EGF) as a cathode in an MFC-powered electro-Fenton system. The electrochemical characterization of etched electrodes revealed that etching at 400 °C for 1.5 h showed the highest electrochemical activity and rapid electron transfer with a peak current of − 0.058A. The physicochemical characterization exhibited a porous morphology with high defect concentration (ID/IG ratio of 1.56) and increased specific surface area and superhydrophilicity, proving its ability to regenerate Fe2+ on the cathodic surface and promote H2O2 generation. MFC exhibits a maximum power density of 0.053 W/m2 and a current density of 0.516 A/\({{\text{m}}}^{2}\). Under optimized conditions of 0.7 mM iron concentration, pH 3, and 100 Ω resistance, the MFC-powered electro-Fenton system showed a maximum of 95.85% aspirin degradation in 30 h with a highest H2O2 generation of 11.84 mg/l. The results highlight the potential of EGF electrodes as efficient cathodes in MFC-powered electro-Fenton systems and suggest that this technology can be opted as an energy-saving system for degrading pharmaceuticals such as aspirin from wastewater.

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Availability of Data and Materials

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

ASA:

Acetyl salicylic acid

AOP:

Advance oxidation process

COD:

Chemical oxygen demand

CV:

Cyclic voltammetry

EDS:

Energy dispersive X- ray spectroscopy

EF:

Electro-Fenton

EGF:

Etched graphite felt

GF:

Graphite felt

MFC:

Microbial fuel cell

MnOx :

Manganese oxide

NSAID:

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug

OCV:

Open circuit voltage

PTFE:

Polytetrafluoroethylene

RGF:

Raw graphite felt

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

TOC:

Total organic carbon

WWTP:

Waste water treatment plant

XRD:

X-Ray powder diffraction

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kozhikode, India

    Juliana John & Haribabu Krishnan

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kanjirappally, Kottayam, India

    Rinu Anna Koshy & Aswathy Asok

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  1. Juliana John
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Material preparation, data collection and analysis, draft preparation—RAK and JJ. Conceptualization, formal analysis, and investigation and supervision—HK and AA. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Haribabu Krishnan.

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John, J., Koshy, R.A., Krishnan, H. et al. Degradation of Aspirin in a Microbial Fuel Cell Powered Electro-Fenton System Using an Etched Graphite Felt Cathode. Electrocatalysis 15, 143–158 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12678-023-00861-8

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