title: Pyrite as a sustainable catalyst in electro-Fenton process for improving oxidation of sulfamethazine. Kinetics, mechanism and toxicity assessment.
abstract: The degradation of 0.20 mM sulfamethazine (SMT) solutions was investigated by heterogeneous electro-Fenton (EF) process using pyrite as source of Fe(2+) (catalyst) and pH regulator in an undivided electrochemical cell equipped either with a Pt or a BDD anode and carbon-felt as cathode. Effect of pyrite concentration and applied current on the oxidative degradation kinetics and mineralization efficiency has been studied. The higher oxidation power of the process, named "Pyrite-EF″ using BDD anode was demonstrated. Pyrite-EF showed a better performance for the oxidation/mineralization of the drug SMT in comparison to the classic EF process: 95% and 87% TOC removal by Pyrite-EF with BDD and Pt anodes, respectively, versus 90% and 83% by classical EF with BDD and Pt anodes, respectively. The rate constant of the oxidation of SMT by OH was determined by the competition kinetics method and found to be 1.87 × 10(9) mol(-1) L s(-1). Based on the identified reaction intermediates by HPLC and GS-MS, as well as released SO4(2-), NH4(+) and NO3(-) ions, a plausible reaction pathway was proposed for the mineralization of SMT during Pyrite-EF process. Toxicity assessment by means of Microtox method revealed the formation of some toxic intermediates during the treatment. However, toxicity of the solution was removed at the end of treatment.
authors.affiliation: Département de chimie Faculté des Sciences de Gabès, Cité Erriadh, Université de Gabès, 6027 Gabès, Tunisia; Université Paris-Est, Laboratoire Géomatériaux et Environnement, EA 4508, UPEM, 5 Bd Descartes, 77454 Marne-la-Vallée, Cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: Natija
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Barhoumi
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, Laboratoire Géomatériaux et Environnement, EA 4508, UPEM, 5 Bd Descartes, 77454 Marne-la-Vallée, Cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: Nihal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oturan
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, Laboratoire Géomatériaux et Environnement, EA 4508, UPEM, 5 Bd Descartes, 77454 Marne-la-Vallée, Cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Olvera-Vargas
authors.affiliation: Laboratori d'Electroquímica dels Materials i del Medi Ambient, Departament de Química Física, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1-11, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: Brillas@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Enric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brillas
authors.affiliation: Département de chimie Faculté des Sciences de Gabès, Cité Erriadh, Université de Gabès, 6027 Gabès, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Abdellatif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gadri
authors.affiliation: Département de chimie Faculté des Sciences de Gabès, Cité Erriadh, Université de Gabès, 6027 Gabès, Tunisia; Département de chimie Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Cité Zarzouna, Université de Carthage, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Salah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ammar
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, Laboratoire Géomatériaux et Environnement, EA 4508, UPEM, 5 Bd Descartes, 77454 Marne-la-Vallée, Cedex 2, France. Electronic address: Mehmet.Oturan@univ-paris-est.fr.
authors.forename: Mehmet A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Oturan
mesh_terms: D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000187:drug effects; D002384:Catalysis; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004566:Electrodes; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D013418:Sulfamethazine / Q000737:chemistry*; D013440:Sulfides / Q000737:chemistry*; D018675:Toxicity Tests
chemical_list: D013440:Sulfides; C011342:pyrite; D013418:Sulfamethazine; D007501:Iron
keywords: Boron-doped diamond anode; Electro-Fenton; Mineralization; Pyrite-electro-Fenton; Sulfamethazine; Wastewater treatment