EDTA and electricity synergetic catalyzed Fe^3 +/H₂O₂ process for amoxicillin oxidation

Three oxidation processes for amoxicillin wastewater pretreatment such as Electro-Fe^3 +(EDTA)/H₂O₂ (EDTA: ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), Fe^3 +(EDTA)/H₂O₂ and Electro-Fe^3 +/H₂O₂ were simultaneously discussed at pH of 7.0 (±0.1). It was found that the above processes could achieve 78%, 64%, 33% chemical oxygen demand (COD_cr) removal, and 86%, 70%, 47% amoxicillin degradation respectively. Moreover, the results of biodegradability (biological oxygen demand (BOD₅)/COD_cr ratio) showed that the Electro-Fe^3 +(EDTA)/H₂O₂ process was a promising way to pretreat antibiotic wastewater due to the biodegradability of the effluent improved to 0.48 compared with the cases of Fe^3 +(EDTA)/H₂O₂ (0.40) and Electro-Fe^3 +/H₂O₂ process (0.12). Therefore, it was reasonable to note that EDTA and electricity showed synergetic effect on the oxidation process. Additionally, infrared spectra (IR) were applied to concisely propose a potential degradation way of amoxicillin. The characteristic changes of H₂O₂ and EDTA in the oxidation process were also investigated in detail.