REMOVAL OF ANTIBIOTIC RIFAMPICIN FROM AQUEOUS MEDIA BY ELECTROCHEMICAL OXIDATION: ROLE OF ELECTRODE MATERIALS, ELECTROLYTES AND WATER MATRIXES ON MINERALIZATION AND DEGRADATION EFFICIENCY
RIFAMPICIN; BDD; CARBON FELT; COD; ANODIC OXIDATION
ONE OF THE MOST FREQUENTLY DETECTED PHARMACEUTICALS PRODUCTS IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT ARE ANTIBIOTICS, BECAUSE ITS REFRACTORY CHARACTERISTIC WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT THE EFFECTIVE REMOVAL IN SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS. ON THIS CONTEXT, THERE IS A NEED FOR THE APPLICATION OF ADVANCED TECHNIQUES FOR THE DEGRADATION/REMOVAL OF THESE POLLUTANTS FROM ENVIRONMENT. IN THIS STUDY, WE PERFORMED ANODIC OXIDATION TREATMENT OF A SYNTHETIC EFFLUENT AND IN DIFFERENT WATER MATRICES CONTAMINATED WITH A DRUG USED FOR TREATMENT OF TUBERCULOSIS, RIFAMPICIN USING BORON DOPED DIAMOND (BDD) AND CARBON FELT (CF) ELECTRODES. THE EFFECT OF APPLIED CURRENT DENSITIES ON THE DEGRADATION OF THE POLLUTANT WAS EXAMINED. COMPARATIVE STUDIES USING OTHER COMMERCIAL ELECTRODE MATERIALS WERE ALSO INVESTIGATED, AS WELL AS EFFICIENCY EVALUATIONS OF DIFFERENT ELECTROLYTES. THE DEGRADATION OF RIFAMPICIN HAD BETTER RESULTS WITH THE BDD/CF MATERIAL AT CURRENT DENSITY OF 50 mAcm-2, REACHING COD REMOVAL OF 98%