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Electrochemical Remediation Technologies for Waters Contaminated by Pharmaceutical Residues

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Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World

Part of the book series: Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World ((ECSW))

Abstract

The presence of pharmaceutical micropollutants in the environment has become of major concern in the last decades. Many electrochemical technologies are currently available for the remediation of waters contaminated by refractory organic pollutants. They are mainly defined as eco-friendly water treatments since the main reagent involved is a clean species, the electron. Recent reviews have focused on the destruction of pharmaceutical residues by the application of methods like ozonation and advanced oxidation processes. Here, we present an overview on electrochemical methods devised for the removal of pharmaceutical residues from both synthetic solutions and real pharmaceutical wastewaters. The fundamentals and experimental set-ups involved in different technologies such as electrocoagulation, anodic oxidation, electro-oxidation with active chlorine, electro-Fenton, photoelectro-Fenton, and photoelectrocatalysis, among others, are discussed. Progress on the promising solar photoelectro-Fenton process devised and further developed in our laboratory is especially highlighted and documented. The destruction of the individual pharmaceuticals and the abatement of total organic carbon or reduction of chemical oxygen demand allow the comparison between the different methods. In some cases, the routes for the complete degradation of the initial pollutants are discussed.

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  1. Laboratori d’Electroquímica dels Materials i del Medi Ambient, Departament de Química Física, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1-11, Barcelona, 08028, Spain

    Enric Brillas & Ignasi Sirés

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  1. Enric Brillas
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  2. Ignasi Sirés
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Correspondence to Ignasi Sirés .

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  1. INRA - UMR Agroécologie, rue Sully 17, Dijon, 86510, France

    Eric Lichtfouse

  2. Inst. für Geologie, Geochemie, u. Lagerstätten d. Erdöls u. d. Kohle, RWTH Aachen, Lochnerstr. 4-20, Aachen, 52056, Germany

    Jan Schwarzbauer

  3. Lab. de Chimie Industrielle, Université de Metz, rue Victor Demange, Saint-Avold, 57500, France

    Didier Robert

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Brillas, E., Sirés, I. (2012). Electrochemical Remediation Technologies for Waters Contaminated by Pharmaceutical Residues. In: Lichtfouse, E., Schwarzbauer, J., Robert, D. (eds) Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World. Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2439-6_8

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