Electrochemically generated ferric iron for efficient removal of sulfamethoxazole from aquaculture wastewater
Lin Yuhang
Deng Zhikang
Zhang Yanan
Zhang Zulin
Abstract：[Objective]The overuse of antibiotics in livestock industry has resulted in elevated antibiotic residues in aquaculture wastewater,which cannot be effectively removed by conventional treatments such as adsorption and activated sludge.This paper develops an in situ electrochemical ferric iron(E/Fe(Ⅲ))generation system to degrade sulfamethoxazole(SMX)in aquaculture wastewater.[Method]We experimentally investigated the effects of electrode type,buffer type,buffer concentration,initial Fe3+concentration,pH,and voltage of the E/Fe(Ⅲ)system on SMX degradation.Radical quenchers were used to identify reactive oxygen species involved in the degradation and quantify their relative contributions.The toxicity of degradation by-products and the system's detoxification efficacy were predicted and evaluated using ECOSAR.We also evaluated the performance of the E/Fe(Ⅲ)system for degrading SMX in real water bodies.[Result]In a 0.1 mol/L borate buffer solution with an initial SMX concentration of 10 mg/L,when voltage was 15 V,Fe3+concentration was 25 μmol/L Fe3+and pH=9,the degradation rate of SMX reached 90.36%in 120 minutes.In addition to ferric species,·OH,1O2,and·O2-all contributed to SMX degradation,with 1O2 contributing the most.Our results showed that the toxicity of the degradation by-products was significantly lower than that of SMX,and that stable degradation was achieved for various types of real wastewater.[Conclusion]The E/Fe(Ⅲ)system is an environmentally friendly and sustainable technology for removing sulfamethoxazole in real aquaculture wastewaters.
Keywords：in-situ generationhigh-valent ironreactive oxygen speciessulfamethoxazole
Publication Date：2026-07-31
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：7( 174-180 )