Antibiotic-contaminated wastewater treatment and remediation by electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs)

Antibiotics are extensively used in health sectors, animal husbandry, and agriculture, which raises serious concerns nowadays due to their presence in surface water, groundwater, soil, sediment, and plants. Antibiotics in water can cause the accumulation and spread of antibiotic-resistant genes that have a serious impact on the environment. Moreover, due to the refractory and persistent nature of antibiotics, conventional wastewater treatment technologies including physio-chemical and biological treatments are inefficient for antibiotic wastewater treatment. In recent times, Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Processes (EAOPs) have been reported to be effective in the treatment of antibiotic-contaminated wastewater. These specialized techniques produce very reactive and oxidizing intermediate •OH radicals which readily degrade the antibiotics. In this article three most important EAOPs, Electro Oxidation (EO), Photo…