title: Sulfamethazine removal by means of a combined process coupling an oxidation pretreatment and activated sludge culture - preliminary results.
abstract: A coupled electrochemical process and biological treatment was used to remove a biorecalcitrant antibiotic: sulfamethazine (SMT). The pretreatment was performed in a home-made flow cell involving graphite felt as a working electrode at potentials of 1 and 1.6 V/saturated calomel electrode (SCE); it was followed by a biological process involving activated sludge purchased from a local wastewater treatment plant. Activated sludge cultures of pretreated and non-pretreated SMT solution were carried out for 3 weeks, and different parameters were monitored, especially total organic carbon (TOC) and SMT concentrations. high-performance liquid chromatography results revealed that the target molecule was not assimilated by activated sludge. However, and confirming the improvement previously observed for the biological oxygen demand/chemical oxygen demand (BOD5/COD) ratio, from 0.08 before electrolysis to 0.58 after electrolysis, a pretreatment step in oxidation at 1.6 V/SCE led to a fast decrease of TOC during the subsequent biological treatment, since the mineralization yields increased from 10% for a non-pretreated SMT solution to 76.6% after electrolysis in oxidation (1.6 V/SCE), confirming the efficiency of coupling the electro-oxidation process with a biological treatment for the mineralization of SMT. Moreover, when the electrolysis was performed at 1 V/SCE, no biodegradation was observed, underlining the importance of the electrochemical pretreatment.
authors.affiliation: a Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes , Université de Rennes 1, UMR-CNRS 6226 , Rennes , France.|c Unité de recherche de Catalyse d'Electrochimie de Nanomatériaux et leurs applications et de didactique CENAD , Institut National des Sciences Appliquées et de Technologie (INSAT) , Tunis Cedex , Tunisie.|d Institute of Chemical Sciences of Rennes, Université Européenne de Bretagne, 5 boulevard Laënnec , 35000 Rennes , France.
authors.forename: Imen
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saidi
authors.affiliation: a Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes , Université de Rennes 1, UMR-CNRS 6226 , Rennes , France.|b Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes, Université de Rennes 1, UMR-CNRS 6226 , Rennes , France.|d Institute of Chemical Sciences of Rennes, Université Européenne de Bretagne, 5 boulevard Laënnec , 35000 Rennes , France.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3104-4239
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fourcade
authors.affiliation: a Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes , Université de Rennes 1, UMR-CNRS 6226 , Rennes , France.|d Institute of Chemical Sciences of Rennes, Université Européenne de Bretagne, 5 boulevard Laënnec , 35000 Rennes , France.
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Floner
authors.affiliation: a Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes , Université de Rennes 1, UMR-CNRS 6226 , Rennes , France.|b Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes, Université de Rennes 1, UMR-CNRS 6226 , Rennes , France.|d Institute of Chemical Sciences of Rennes, Université Européenne de Bretagne, 5 boulevard Laënnec , 35000 Rennes , France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Soutrel
authors.affiliation: c Unité de recherche de Catalyse d'Electrochimie de Nanomatériaux et leurs applications et de didactique CENAD , Institut National des Sciences Appliquées et de Technologie (INSAT) , Tunis Cedex , Tunisie.
authors.forename: Nizar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bellakhal
authors.affiliation: a Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes , Université de Rennes 1, UMR-CNRS 6226 , Rennes , France.|b Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes, Université de Rennes 1, UMR-CNRS 6226 , Rennes , France.|d Institute of Chemical Sciences of Rennes, Université Européenne de Bretagne, 5 boulevard Laënnec , 35000 Rennes , France.
authors.forename: Abdeltif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amrane
authors.affiliation: a Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes , Université de Rennes 1, UMR-CNRS 6226 , Rennes , France.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Geneste
mesh_terms: D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D004572:Electrolysis; D012722:Sewage; D013418:Sulfamethazine / Q000737:chemistry*; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D013418:Sulfamethazine; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Sulfamethazine; activated sludge; biological treatment; combined process; electro-oxidation pretreatment