Tetracycline (TC) is one of the most persistent pharmaceuticals in the ecosystem. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are suitable and effective technology for treating wastewater contaminated with antibiotics such as TC. In this manner, Fenton-like reaction is effective for wastewater treatment from toxicity and non-biodegradable organic pollutants using bimetallic nanoparticles. This study aims to verify the effect of AOPs using ZVI/Cu bimetallic nanoparticles on removing the TC antibiotic via a Fenton-like reaction, and what is necessary to evaluate the factors that influence the reaction, i.e. pH, ZVI/Cu dose, stirring intensity, H2O2 concentration, and initial TC dosage. The obtained results indicated that the TC removal reached up to 82.3% with an initial TC dose of 8 μg/L. In addition, the TC degradation process is more effective in an acidic medium than in an alkaline medium. Furthermore, the TC removal reached up to 85.1% with a ZVI/Cu dose of 1.2 g/L. On the other hand, the optimum mixing intensity value was 200 rpm, and the optimum H2O2 dose was 2 g/L according to the conditions of the present study.

  • The TC removal percent increases with the increase of ZVI/Cu doses. TC removal reached up to 85.1% with a ZVI/Cu dose of 1.2 g/L.

  • The optimum mixing intensity value was 200 rpm, and the optimum H2O2 dose was 2 g/L according to the conditions of the present study.

Tetracycline (TC) is one of the most widely applied antibiotics in veterinary medicine, livestock and poultry production, as well as being one of the most persistent pharmaceuticals in the ecosystem (Sarmah et al. 2006; Javid et al. 2016). In addition, TC is released into the surface and groundwater through medication manufacturing enterprises' wastewater effluent, disposal of non-consumable chemicals and expired pharmaceuticals containing TC, as well as animal and agricultural wastes (Boxall et al. 2003; Mompelat et al. 2009). TC is one of the antibiotics that are frequently found in sewage, surface and groundwater resources, drinking water, and sludge (Wang et al. 2011; Amos et al. 2018; Hassan et al. 2021). Hence, TC is resistant to biodegradation due to resistant compounds in the biological treatment of wastewater. Therefore, it is necessary to remove these pollutants before discharging them into conventional wastewater treatment plants (Park & Choung 2007; Abdel-Aziz et al. 2019; Adel et al. 2020; Hassan et al. 2021).

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are suitable and effective technology for treating wastewater contaminated with antibiotics (Prousek et al. 2007; Adel et al. 2020). The idea of advanced oxidation is based on the production of highly reactive intermediates, especially hydroxyl radicals, which can oxidize almost all organic pollutants. In this manner, Fenton and Fenton-like reactions are effective AOPs for wastewater treatment from toxicity and non-biodegradable organic pollutants (Kuo 1992; Prousek 1995; Prousek et al. 2007; Velichkova et al. 2013; Saini & Kumar 2016; Adel et al. 2020).

Ferrous ions (Fe2+) react with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to form hydroxyl radicals in the Fenton reactions. Hydroxyl radicals are highly reactive, non-selective oxidants (ROS) (Bocos et al. 2016; Pourzamani et al. 2018). However, ferrous salts' direct addition to water produces iron sludge (Lin et al. 2017). To overcome this limitation, sacrificial iron electrodes can be used to control ferrous ion loading (Radwan et al. 2018) or the ferrous ions that are extracted from iron catalysts such as zero-valent iron (He et al. 2018; Adel et al. 2020). The following equations describe the Fenton reaction mechanism (Pignatello et al. 2006; Adel et al. 2020).
formula
(1)
formula
(2)
formula
(3)
formula
(4)
formula
(5)
formula
(6)
formula
(7)

A neutral form of hydroxide ion (OH), the hydroxyl radical (OH) is produced. As shown in Equation (1), OH can be generated by electron transfer. On the other hand, the hydroperoxyl radical (HO2) can be produced as shown in Equations (2) and (3) when the Fenton reagent reduces OH. Thus, the proportion between iron ions and hydrogen peroxide should be determined by laboratory experiments and the Fe3+ sludge should be removed. This makes the Fenton reaction complex and requires significant expense. Moreover, the production of hydroxyl radicals in an alkaline medium is ineffective (Pignatello et al. 2006; Adel et al. 2020).

For the reasons mentioned above, the Fenton-like reaction was developed as a promising alternative method. Specialists have given the Fenton reaction a great deal of thought in order to combat these drawbacks. Some different sorts of hetero/homogeneous catalyst (except Fe2+) were utilized to supplant Fe2+, including Fe3+, Cu2+/Cu+, and nano zero-valent iron (ZVI). These setup frameworks are called hetero/homogeneous Fenton-like processes. The essential contrast between the homogeneous and heterogeneous Fenton-like reactions includes the various positions where the catalytic reactions occur. In the homogeneous system, the catalysis process can happen in the whole liquid phase, while in the heterogeneous system the catalysis process consistently occurs on the surface of the catalyst. The situation at which catalysis ensues in the heterogeneous framework verifies that the dissemination and adsorption processes of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and different reactants to the surface of the catalyst could be important for the catalysis process (Wang 2008, 2013, 2016; Nidheesh 2015; Jain et al. 2018; Adel et al. 2020).

It has been shown in several experiments that the rate of mineralization is faster with Fenton than with Fenton-like reagents because of the rapid arrangement of hydroxyl radicals in the Fenton reagent (Wang et al. 2016; Adel et al. 2020). In summary, Fenton-like reagent oxidation capacity was influenced by pH, H2O2 dose, catalyst dose, and reaction temperature (Wang 2008; Wang et al. 2016; Adel et al. 2020). Under neutral pH conditions, the Fenton-like reaction is notable among the techniques used to increase degradation efficiency and reduce economic cost. Nanoparticles of ZVI are non-toxic, inexpensive, and easy to prepare (Kobayashi et al. 2017; Vollprecht et al. 2019; Xue et al. 2019; Adel et al. 2020).

The bimetallic nanoparticles have been generally utilized in advanced wastewater treatment because of their efficiency as a catalyst as well as their high surface area (Qin et al. 2016; Sepúlveda et al. 2018; Mahmoud et al. 2020). Zero valent iron/copper (ZVI/Cu) as bimetallic nanoparticles have been demonstrated in the removal of non-biodegradable organics using AOPs (Thomas 2003; Wijesekara et al. 2014; Adel et al. 2020; Mahmoud et al. 2020).

The aim of this study is to verify the effect of AOPs using ZVI/Cu bimetallic nanoparticles on removing the TC antibiotic via a Fenton-like reaction, and what is necessary to evaluate the factors that influence the reaction; that is, pH, ZVI/Cu dose, stirring intensity, H2O2 concentration, and initial TC dosage.

Chemicals

All the utilized chemicals were of analytical grade as well as high quality. Methanol (CH3OH), ethanol (C2H5OH), ferrous sulfate heptahydrate (FeSO4.7H2O), copper sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO4.5H2O), sodium borohydride (NaBH4), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and hydrochloric acid (HCL) are available from Sigma-Aldrich Company.

ZVI/Cu characteristics and preparation

ZVI/Cu is a dark powder with a particle size of under 50 nm supplied from Nano Gate Company. Figure 1 shows the shape and size of ZVI/Cu nanoparticles as determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) performed on a JEOL JEM-2100 high-resolution transmission electron microscope at 200 kV (Hudson et al. 2012).

Figure 1

ZVI/Cu characteristics (Adel et al. 2020).

NaBH4 was used to prepare ZVI nanoparticles through net phase reduction. 10.5 g of FeSO4.7H2O was dissolved in 100 ml of ethanol/deionized water (3:7 V/V). This was followed by a pH adjustment at 6.8. Next, 2.0 g of NaBH4 was added to the solution in small amounts at a time, stirred vigorously at 250 rpm for 30 minutes and dried at 105 °C. The final product was obtained by washing the residual solids with ethanol and drying them. ZVI was dispersed in a CuSO4 solution to load Cu onto it (Lai et al. 2014; Yamaguchi et al. 2018). CuSO4 was added at a concentration of 3 g/L, and the pH was adjusted to 4.6 at a temperature of 40 °C at first. It was left to precipitate for about 10 minutes after 30 minutes of stirring. A magnetic separation process was used to collect the synthesized particles. They were then washed with ethanol and dried in an oven at 105 °C to obtain the final product (Babuponnusami & Muthukumar 2012; Adel et al. 2020).

Experimental method

The reaction was carried out in a complete mixer containing 100 mL of TC solution with different initial concentrations ranging from 2 to 8 μg/L. Before adding the reagents, the pH was neutralized with HCL or NaOH to between 6 and 9 so that it was within the limits of the treated wastewater. Then, ZVI/Cu doses between 0.3 and 1.2 g/L and H2O2 up to 3 g/L were added. The solution was vigorously stirred for 60 minutes, and samples were taken at predetermined intervals to monitor the change in TC concentration (Adel et al. 2020). The measurements were conducted using Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP-OES); model OPTIMA™ 7000 DV, USA, HPLC apparatus (Agilent 1200). Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater, 23rd edition, prepared and published by APHA, AWWA, and WEF, was used as a guide for the analyses (Standard Methods 2017). These experiments were conducted in Central Laboratory, Tanta University, and Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Egypt.

Design of experiments

As a statistical tool, the multiple linear regression (MLR) model has been used to find a relationship between the efficiency of TC removal (TC %) given the influencing parameters, namely pH, ZVI/Cu dose, stirring intensity (SI), H2O2 concentration, and initial TC dosage (TCi). The experiments of TC degradation were conducted according to the following ranges of the influencing parameters as shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Ranges of the influencing parameters for TC degradation

Influencing parameterValues
IIIIIIIV
TCi (μg/L) 
pH 
ZVI/Cu (g/L) 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 
SI (rpm) 100 150 200 250 
H2O2 (g/L) 
Influencing parameterValues
IIIIIIIV
TCi (μg/L) 
pH 
ZVI/Cu (g/L) 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 
SI (rpm) 100 150 200 250 
H2O2 (g/L) 

Impact of initial TC range on TC removal

The relationship between the initial TC dose and the percentage of its removal after the degradation process was found, as shown in Figure 2. The pH was adjusted to 7.0, the stirring intensity (SI) was calibrated at 150 rpm, and the doses of ZVI/Cu, H2O2 were 0.6, 1.0 g/L respectively. It can be noticed that the TC removal percent increases with the increase of initial TC doses. TC removal reached up to 82.3% with an initial TC dose of 8 μg/L. These results are well matched with those obtained by Abdel-Aziz et al. (2019) and Adel et al. (2020).

Figure 2

Relationship between the initial TC dose and the percentage of its removal.

Figure 2

Relationship between the initial TC dose and the percentage of its removal.

Close modal

Determination of optimum pH value

The percent of TC removal was observed at a sequence of pH values from 6.0 to 9.0 to get the optimum pH value for TC removal as represented in Figure 3. The initial TC dose was 6 μg/L, the stirring intensity was calibrated at 150 rpm and the doses of ZVI/Cu, H2O2 were 0.6, 2.0 g/L respectively. An increase in the percentage of TC removal can be observed from 71.6 to 80.4% when the pH value is increased from 6 to 7. On the contrary, it is noticed that the removal percentage of TC decreases from 80.4% to 50.1% when the pH is increased from 7 to 9. This shows that the TC degradation process is more effective in an acidic medium than in an alkaline medium, and the optimum pH value became 7 according to these conditions. The relationship between the pH values and TC removal in this study is similar to the pH relationship with the carbamazepine removal in Abdel-Aziz et al. (2019).

Figure 3

Impact of pH on TC removal.

Figure 3

Impact of pH on TC removal.

Close modal

Impact of ZVI/Cu dose on TC removal

The relationship between ZVI/Cu dose and the percentage of TC removal after the degradation process was found, as shown in Figure 4. The initial TC dose was 4 μg/L, the pH was adjusted at 7.0, the stirring intensity (SI) was calibrated at 150 rpm, and the H2O2 was 2.0 g/L respectively. It can be noticed that the TC removal percent increases with the increase of ZVI/Cu doses. TC removal reached up to 85.1% with a ZVI/Cu dose of 1.2 g/L. These results are well-matched with those obtained by Adel et al. (2020).

Figure 4

Impact of ZVI/Cu dose on TC removal.

Figure 4

Impact of ZVI/Cu dose on TC removal.

Close modal

Optimization of stirring intensity conditions

The percent of TC removal was observed at a sequence of stirring intensity (SI) or mixing rotational speed values from 100 to 250 rpm to get the optimum SI value for TC removal as shown in Figure 5. The initial TC dose was 6 μg/L, the pH value was 7, and the doses of ZVI/Cu, H2O2 were 0.6, 2.0 g/L respectively. An increase in the percentage of TC removal can be observed from 51.1 to 73.8% when the SI is increased from 100 to 200 rpm. On the contrary, it is noticed that the removal percentage of TC decreases from 73.8% to 69.1% when the SI is increased from 200 to 250 rpm. This shows that the optimum SI value was 200 rpm according to these conditions. The relationship between the SI values and TC removal in this study is similar to Adel et al. (2020).

Figure 5

Impact of stirring intensity on TC removal.

Figure 5

Impact of stirring intensity on TC removal.

Close modal

Optimization of H2O2 dose

The relationship between H2O2 dose and the percentage of TC removal after the degradation process was found, as shown in Figure 6. The initial TC dose was 6 μg/L, the pH was adjusted at 7.0, the stirring intensity (SI) was calibrated at 200 rpm, and the dose of ZVI/Cu was 0.6 g/L respectively. An increase in the percentage of TC removal can be observed from 50.9 to 73.2% when the H2O2 dose is increased from 0 to 2 g/L. On the contrary, it is noticed that the removal percentage of TC decreases from 73.2% to 67.9% when the H2O2 dose is increased from 2 to 3 g/L. This shows that the optimum H2O2 dose was 2 g/L according to these conditions.

Figure 6

Impact of H2O2 dose on TC removal.

Figure 6

Impact of H2O2 dose on TC removal.

Close modal

Model development for predicting TC removal

The multiple linear regression (MLR) model was applied for predicting TC removal depending on the recorded influencing parameters. Table 2 shows the output data from the ANOVA model, while Table 3 shows the coefficients and statistical results from the MLR model (3).

Table 2

Output data from analysis of variance (ANOVA) model

SourcedfSSMSFSignificance F
Regression 116,985.4021 23,397.08 493.1214 2.05E-19 
Residual 20 948.9378929 47.44689   
Total 25 117,934.34    
SourcedfSSMSFSignificance F
Regression 116,985.4021 23,397.08 493.1214 2.05E-19 
Residual 20 948.9378929 47.44689   
Total 25 117,934.34    
Table 3

Coefficients and statistical results of multiple linear regression model

CoefficientsStandard errort StatP-valueLower 95%Upper 95%
Intercept 0.000 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A 
TCi (μg/L) 6.322090938 0.640972409 9.863281 3.99E-09 4.985046 7.659136 
pH 3.296046347 1.08668104 3.033131 0.006567 1.029269 5.562823 
ZVI/Cu (g/L) −2.357980559 8.453612279 −0.27893 0.783161 −19.9919 15.27595 
SI (rpm) −0.014378872 0.052397564 −0.27442 0.786577 −0.12368 0.094921 
H2O2 (g/L) 3.623346769 1.782438151 2.032804 0.055562 −0.09475 7.341448 
CoefficientsStandard errort StatP-valueLower 95%Upper 95%
Intercept 0.000 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A 
TCi (μg/L) 6.322090938 0.640972409 9.863281 3.99E-09 4.985046 7.659136 
pH 3.296046347 1.08668104 3.033131 0.006567 1.029269 5.562823 
ZVI/Cu (g/L) −2.357980559 8.453612279 −0.27893 0.783161 −19.9919 15.27595 
SI (rpm) −0.014378872 0.052397564 −0.27442 0.786577 −0.12368 0.094921 
H2O2 (g/L) 3.623346769 1.782438151 2.032804 0.055562 −0.09475 7.341448 
The following equation can be used to calculate the predicted TC removal percent from the MLR model:
formula
(8)

An R-squared value of 0.996 confirmed that TC removal percent was a dependent variable, while the other parameters were independent variables. Degradation of TC can be assessed using MLR because it is simple, direct, and highly accurate.

The scope of this study is evaluating the effect of AOPs using ZVI/Cu bimetallic nanoparticles on removing the TC antibiotic via a Fenton-like reaction, and what is necessary to evaluate the factors that influence the reaction; that is, pH, ZVI/Cu dose, stirring intensity, H2O2 concentration, and initial TC dosage. A number of important conclusions were drawn as follows:

  1. The TC removal percent increases with the increase of initial TC doses. TC removal reached up to 82.3% with an initial TC dose of 8 μg/L.

  2. The TC degradation process is more effective in an acidic medium than in an alkaline medium, and the optimum pH value became 7 according to the conditions of the present study.

  3. The TC removal percent increases with the increase of ZVI/Cu doses. TC removal reached up to 85.1% with a ZVI/Cu dose of 1.2 g/L.

  4. The optimum SI value was 200 rpm according to the conditions of the present study.

  5. The optimum H2O2 dose was 2 g/L according to the conditions of the present study.

All relevant data are included in the paper or its Supplementary Information.

Abdel-Aziz
H. M.
,
Farag
R. S.
&
Abdel-Gawad
S. A.
2019
Carbamazepine removal from aqueous solution by green synthesis zero-valent iron/Cu nanoparticles with Ficus Benjamina leaves’ extract
.
International Journal of Environmental Research
13
(
5
),
843
852
.
Adel
A.
,
Alalm
M. G.
,
El-Etriby
H. K.
&
Boffito
D. C.
2020
Optimization and mechanism insights into the sulfamethazine degradation by bimetallic ZVI/Cu nanoparticles coupled with H2O2
.
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
8
(
5
),
104341
.
Amos
G. C.
,
Ploumakis
S.
,
Zhang
L.
,
Hawkey
P. M.
,
Gaze
W. H.
&
Wellington
E. M.
2018
The widespread dissemination of integrons throughout bacterial communities in a riverine system
.
The ISME Journal
12
(
3
),
681
691
.
Babuponnusami
A.
&
Muthukumar
K.
2012
Removal of phenol by heterogenous photo electro Fenton-like process using nano-zero valent iron
.
Separation and Purification Technology
98
,
130
135
.
Bocos
E.
,
Iglesias
O.
,
Pazos
M.
&
Sanromán
M. Á.
2016
Nickel foam a suitable alternative to increase the generation of Fenton's reagents
.
Process Safety and Environmental Protection
101
,
34
44
.
Boxall
A. B.
,
Kolpin
D. W.
,
Halling-Sørensen
B.
&
Tolls
J.
2003
Peer reviewed: are veterinary medicines causing environmental risks?
Environmental Science & Technology
37
(
15
),
286A
294A
.
Hassan
M.
,
Zhu
G.
,
Lu
Y. Z.
,
AL-Falahi
A. H.
,
Lu
Y.
,
Huang
S.
&
Wan
Z.
2021
Removal of antibiotics from wastewater and its problematic effects on microbial communities by bioelectrochemical technology: current knowledge and future perspectives
.
Environmental Engineering Research
26
(
1
),
190405
.
He
F.
,
Li
Z.
,
Shi
S.
,
Xu
W.
,
Sheng
H.
,
Gu
Y.
&
Xi
B.
2018
Dechlorination of excess trichloroethene by bimetallic and sulfidated nanoscale zero-valent iron
.
Environmental Science & Technology
52
(
15
),
8627
8637
.
Jain
B.
,
Singh
A. K.
,
Kim
H.
,
Lichtfouse
E.
&
Sharma
V. K.
2018
Treatment of organic pollutants by homogeneous and heterogeneous Fenton reaction processes
.
Environmental Chemistry Letters
16
(
3
),
947
967
.
Javid
A.
,
Mesdaghinia
A.
,
Nasseri
S.
,
Mahvi
A. H.
,
Alimohammadi
M.
&
Gharibi
H.
2016
Assessment of tetracycline contamination in surface and groundwater resources proximal to animal farming houses in Tehran, Iran
.
Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering
14
(
1
),
1
5
.
Lai
B.
,
Zhang
Y. H.
,
Yuan
Y.
,
Chen
Z. Y.
&
Yang
P.
2014
Influence of preparation conditions on characteristics, reactivity, and operational life of microsized Fe/Cu bimetallic particles
.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
53
(
31
),
12295
12304
.
Mahmoud
A. S.
,
Ismail
A.
,
Mostafa
M. K.
,
Mahmoud
M. S.
,
Ali
W.
&
Shawky
A. M.
2020
Isotherm and kinetic studies for heptachlor removal from aqueous solution using Fe/Cu nanoparticles, artificial intelligence, and regression analysis
.
Separation Science and Technology
55
(
4
),
684
696
.
Park
H.
&
Choung
Y. K.
2007
Degradation of antibiotics (tetracycline, sulfathiazole, ampicillin) using enzymes of glutathion S-transferase
.
Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal
13
(
5
),
1147
1155
.
Pignatello
J. J.
,
Oliveros
E.
&
MacKay
A.
2006
Advanced oxidation processes for organic contaminant destruction based on the Fenton reaction and related chemistry
.
Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology
36
(
1
),
1
84
.
Pourzamani
H.
,
Hajizadeh
Y.
&
Mengelizadeh
N.
2018
Application of three-dimensional electroFenton process using MWCNTs-Fe3O4 nanocomposite for removal of diclofenac
.
Process Safety and Environmental Protection
119
,
271
284
.
Prousek
J.
1995
Fenton reaction after a century
.
Chemické Listy
89
(
1
),
11
21
.
Prousek
J.
,
Palacková
E.
,
Priesolová
S.
,
Marková
L.
&
Alevová
A.
2007
Fenton-and Fenton-like AOPs for wastewater treatment: from laboratory-to-plant-scale application
.
Separation Science and Technology
42
(
7
),
1505
1520
.
Qin
N.
,
Zhang
Y.
,
Zhou
H.
,
Geng
Z.
,
Liu
G.
,
Zhang
Y.
&
Wang
G.
2016
Enhanced removal of trace Cr (VI) from neutral and alkaline aqueous solution by FeCo bimetallic nanoparticles
.
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
472
,
8
15
.
Saini
R.
&
Kumar
P.
2016
Optimization of chlorpyrifos degradation by Fenton oxidation using CCD and ANFIS computing technique
.
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
4
(
3
),
2952
2963
.
Sepúlveda
P.
,
Rubio
M. A.
,
Baltazar
S. E.
,
Rojas-Nunez
J.
,
Llamazares
J. S.
,
Garcia
A. G.
&
Arancibia-Miranda
N.
2018
As (V) removal capacity of FeCu bimetallic nanoparticles in aqueous solutions: the influence of Cu content and morphologic changes in bimetallic nanoparticles
.
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
524
,
177
187
.
Standard Methods
2017
Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater
, 23rd edn.
American Public Health Association
,
Washington, DC, USA
.
Thomas
H.
2003
Groundwater Quality and Groundwater Pollution
.
University of California, Davis & Kearney Agricultural Center Parlier, CA, USA.
Velichkova
F.
,
Julcour-Lebigue
C.
,
Koumanova
B.
&
Delmas
H.
2013
Heterogeneous Fenton oxidation of paracetamol using iron oxide (nano) particles
.
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
1
(
4
),
1214
1222
.
Vollprecht
D.
,
Krois
L. M.
,
Sedlazeck
K. P.
,
Müller
P.
,
Mischitz
R.
,
Olbrich
T.
&
Pomberger
R.
2019
Removal of critical metals from waste water by zero-valent iron
.
Journal of Cleaner Production
208
,
1409
1420
.
Wang
P.
,
Yap
P. S.
&
Lim
T. T.
2011
C–N–S tridoped TiO2 for photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline under visible-light irradiation
.
Applied Catalysis A: General
399
(
1–2
),
252
261
.
Wang
Z.
,
Liu
Z.
,
Yu
F.
,
Zhu
J.
,
Chen
Y.
&
Tao
T.
2013
Siderophore-modified Fenton-like system for the degradation of propranolol in aqueous solutions at near neutral pH values
.
Chemical Engineering Journal
229
,
177
182
.
Wang
N.
,
Zheng
T.
,
Zhang
G.
&
Wang
P.
2016
A review on Fenton-like processes for organic wastewater treatment
.
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
4
(
1
),
762
787
.
Wijesekara
S. S. R. M. D. H. R.
,
Harischandra
I. G. J. C.
,
Kumarathilaka
S. M. P. R.
&
Vithanage
M.
2014
Fate and transport of selection nutrients and heavy metals in nanoscale zero valent iron amended sand columns. University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
.
Xue
G.
,
Wang
Q.
,
Qian
Y.
,
Gao
P.
,
Su
Y.
,
Liu
Z.
&
Chen
J.
2019
Simultaneous removal of aniline, antimony and chromium by ZVI coupled with H2O2: implication for textile wastewater treatment
.
Journal of Hazardous Materials
368
,
840
848
.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).