Solutions with 0.65 mM of the antituberculosis drug isoniazid (INH) in 0.050 M Na2SO4 at pH 3.0 were treated by electro-Fenton (EF) and UVA photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) processes using a cell with a BDD anode and a carbon-PTFE air-diffusion cathode. The influence of current density on degradation, mineralization rate, and current efficiency has been thoroughly evaluated in EF. The effect of the metallic catalyst (Fe2+ or Fe3+) and the formation of products like short-chain linear aliphatic carboxylic acids were assessed in PEF. Two consecutive pseudo-first-order kinetic regions were found using Fe2+ as catalyst. In the first region, at short time, the drug was rapidly oxidized by ●OH, whereas in the second region, at longer time, a resulting Fe(III)-INH complex was much more slowly removed by oxidants. INH disappeared completely at 300 min by EF, attaining 88 and 94% mineralization at 66.6 and 100 mA cm-2, respectively. Isonicotinamide and its hydroxylated derivative were identified as aromatic products of INH by GC-MS and oxalic, oxamic, and formic acids were quantified by ion-exclusion HPLC. The PEF treatment of a real wastewater polluted with the drug led to slower INH and TOC abatements because of the parallel destruction of its natural organic matter content.
Keywords: Electro-Fenton; Isoniazid; Oxidation products; Photoelectro-Fenton; Real wastewater; Water treatment.