Oxidation of sulfamethazine by peracetic acid activated with biochar: Reactive oxygen species contribution and toxicity change

Zhibo Zhang; Yanping Duan; Chaomeng Dai; Si Li; Yuru Chen; Yaojen Tu; Kah Hon Leong; Lang Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120170

Oxidation of sulfamethazine by peracetic acid activated with biochar: Reactive oxygen species contribution and toxicity change

Environ Pollut. 2022 Nov 15:313:120170. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120170. Epub 2022 Sep 14.

Authors

Zhibo Zhang¹, Yanping Duan², Chaomeng Dai³, Si Li³, Yuru Chen¹, Yaojen Tu⁴, Kah Hon Leong⁵, Lang Zhou⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Urban Studies, School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, 100 Guilin Rd., Shanghai, 200234, PR China.
² Institute of Urban Studies, School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, 100 Guilin Rd., Shanghai, 200234, PR China; Yangtze River Delta Urban Wetland Ecosystem National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station, Shanghai, 200234, PR China. Electronic address: duanyanping@shnu.edu.cn.
³ College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, PR China.
⁴ Institute of Urban Studies, School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, 100 Guilin Rd., Shanghai, 200234, PR China; Yangtze River Delta Urban Wetland Ecosystem National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station, Shanghai, 200234, PR China.
⁵ Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology, Tunku Abdul Rahman University, 31900, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia.
⁶ Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 301 E. Dean Keeton St., Stop C1786, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.

PMID: 36115488
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120170

Abstract

Peracetic acid (PAA) as an emerging oxidative has been concerned increasingly due to its high oxidation capacity and low byproducts formation potential. This study was to investigate the oxidation of sulfamethazine (SMZ) by PAA activated with activated biochar (ABC) after thermal modification. The results demonstrated that PAA could be effectively activated by ABC to degrade SMZ in a wide pH range (3-9), which followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics (R² > 0.99). Both non-radicals (singlet oxygen) and free radicals (alkoxy radicals, hydroxyl radicals) existed in the ABC/PAA system, and the degradation of SMZ was dominated by singlet oxygen. Humic acid (HA), SO₄^2- and HCO₃^- slightly inhibited the degradation of SMZ in the ABC/PAA process, while Cl^- and Br^- promoted the degradation of SMZ. The cleavage of S-N, S-C bond, and SO₂ extraction reaction rearrangement was the main oxidation process of SMZ. Meanwhile, the results of the ECOSAR program showed that the acute toxicity of most by-products was significantly reduced compared to SMZ, which revealed the potential applicability of the ABC/PAA process in the treatment of antibiotics pollution and their detoxification.

Keywords: Activated biochar; Antibiotics; Oxidative degradation; Peracetic acid; Water treatment.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Charcoal
Humic Substances
Peracetic Acid / toxicity
Reactive Oxygen Species
Singlet Oxygen
Sulfamethazine* / chemistry
Sulfamethazine* / toxicity
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / toxicity

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Humic Substances
Reactive Oxygen Species
Water Pollutants, Chemical
biochar
Charcoal
Singlet Oxygen
Sulfamethazine
Peracetic Acid