Chlortetracycline (CTC) is one of the preliminary antibiotics group used throughout the world for human and veterinary purposes and in agriculture sector. The discharge of CTC into the environment represents a global public health issues that need urgent action. The complex mixture of these compounds and the non-biodegradability character makes conventional wastewater treatment methods unable to completely remove antibiotic compounds. Nowadays, a great interest in photoelectrocatalytic oxidation (PECO) processes has been emerging. The introduction of catalytic reaction to the electrochemical technology (called photoelectrocatalytic technology) using TiO2 as photocatalyst has received a great interest due its ability to produce a powerful oxidant species such as hydroxyl radical (OH�). The photoelectrocatalytic cell was comprised of one anode (Ti/TiO2) and one cathode (stainless steel, vitreous carbon, graphite). A current intensity of 0.38 A was imposed during 120 min of treatment times. The photoanode was illuminated by UV lamp (254 nm). A total volume of 1.0 L of CTC (25 �g L-1) was used. The PECO and the mineralization of CTC were monitored by measurements of total organic carbon (TOC), residual CTC concentration and total nitrogen (TN). The PECO process using anatase structure of Ti/TiO2 as photo-anode and vitreous carbon (VC) as cathode operated at a current intensity of 0.39 A and 254 nm of UV irradiation during 120 min were found to be the best conditions to oxidize CTC (98% � 0.2%) and to ensure high mineralization (67.3% � 2.15% of TOC removal and 69.3% � 3.10% of TN removal). Likewise, microtox (Vibrio fisheri), and Daphnia magna biotests revealed that the treated effluent was not toxic compared to the untreated effluent.

Chlortetracycline degradation using nanostructured photoanode electrodes in an electrolytic cell

245th National Meeting (2013)

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