Iridium Tantalum Coating Titanium Anodes are Used for Antibiotic Wastewater Treatment

Iridium Tantalum Coating Titanium Anodes are Used for Antibiotic Wastewater Treatment

The accumulation of antibiotics can easily cause serious environmental problems. Antibiotic wastewater in sewage treatment plants should be treated before discharge.

Conventional techniques like biological, physical, and chemical methods have poor efficiency for the removal of antibiotics. As an emerging water treatment technology, electrochemical advanced oxidation technology has been increasingly studied due to its wide applicability and high efficiency.

Scientists used a boron-doped diamond electrode(BDD) and mixed metal oxide coating titanium electrode to successfully performed anodization of oxytetracycline. The oxidation and reduction reactions that occur during the electrochemical degradation of organic matter are divided into direct reactions and indirect reactions. Under the action of an electric field, large molecules and long chains are transformed into more easily biodegradable molecules that can be removed from water by aquatic microorganisms.

The electrochemical degradation reactions of antibiotics are divided into direct and indirect oxidation reactions. Direct oxidation reactions occur on the electrode surface through the electron transfer between the organic matter and the anode, while the indirect oxidation reaction is the oxidative degradation of organic matter promoted by the active groups (superoxide radicals, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radicals, etc.) generated due to the electrode potential. These groups have a strong oxidizing ability so that refractory organic pollutants that are difficult to treat by other methods can also be oxidized or even degraded to inorganic substances, such as water and carbon dioxide.

The coating material influences the life of the anode and the degree of mineralization and rate of degradation of the target pollutants. Currently, titanium substrates coated with mixed metal oxide coating are the most widely used. Due to the high oxygen absorption potential and resistance to acidic corrosion as an inert substance with strong stability, iridium tantalum oxide provides good protection for the coated electrode.