The widespread use of antibiotics has accelerated the development of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which are now recognized as emerging environmental contaminants that pose a high risk to public health. In this study, simultaneous antibiotic and ARGs removal and bioelectricity generation was explored in a microbial electro-Fenton system using erythromycin (ERY) as a model antibiotic compound. The results showed that ERY could be degraded, with an average removal efficiency of 88.73% in 48 h, and the average removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand in the microbial electro-Fenton with 50 μg L-1 ERY reached 86.84% in 48 h, which was lower than that in the control group (89.11%). The produced ARGs were analyzed and degraded in a cathode chamber. The quantity of ermB was significantly reduced, with log removal reaching a value of 1.96. More importantly, all erm genes (ermB, ermC, ermG) showed a tendency to be degraded. Furthermore, the maximum power density obtained with respect to the electrode area was 0.193 W m-2 when ERY was added, corresponding to a current density of 0.583 A m-2 (external resistor = 1000 Ω), which was 14% larger than that of the control group (0.169 W m-2). The results of this study demonstrate the potential of microbial electro-Fenton for ERY and ARGs removal.
Keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes; Electricity generation; Erythromycin; Microbial electro-Fenton; Microbial fuel cell.
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