Electro Fenton process catalyzed by Fe@Fe2O3 nanowire for degradation of carbamazepine from aqueous solutions

Abstract

In this study, Fe@Fe2O3 nanowires were applied in combination with electro Fenton (EF) process to decompose of carbamazepine (CBZ) drug in an electrochemical reactor using a graphite rod cathode and Ti/PbO2 anode. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design was used to optimize various parameters such as pH, current, FeSO4 center dot 7H(2)O, drug and Fe@Fe2O3 concentrations, and reaction time. The results of RSM showed a good statistical relationship between experimental values of CBZ removal and their predicted values using the suggested multi-parameter model. The efficacy of CBZ removal significantly enhanced with increasing density, Fe@Fe2O3 nanowire dose, and reaction time, while it was reduced with increasing pH, FeSO4 center dot 7H(2)O concentration, and initial concentration of the drug. The results on a percentage of contribution and the F-value (PC = 42.99 and F = 346.4003) showed that Fe@Fe2O3 dose plays an important role in increasing the efficiency of the electro Fenton process. RSM results also revealed that EF process effectively removed 88.55 of CBZ and 65 of total organic carbon from aqueous solutions under optimum conditions; that is pH = 4, current = 0.18 A (current density = 5.14 mA cm(-2)), FeSO4 center dot 7H(2)O concentration = 3.87 mg L-1, CBZ concentration = 7.49 mg L-1, Fe@Fe2O3 dose = 1,050 mg L-1, and reaction time = 50 min. The utilized multi-parameter optimization approach revealed the presence of interactions between pH with FeSO4 center dot 7H(2)O concentration and pH with reaction time. As a conclusion EF process catalyzed by Fe@Fe2O3 nanowire can be used for the removal of pharmaceutical compounds such as CBZ from aqueous solutions.