Effective degradation of carbamazepine using a novel electro-peroxone process involving simultaneous electrochemical generation of ozone and hydrogen peroxide

An advanced electrochemical oxidation process (electro-peroxone) involving a dual electrode system was developed to degrade recalcitrant carbamazepine (CBZ). During this electro-peroxone (E-peroxone) process, ozone was electrochemically produced by anodic oxidation of water in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) cell and H2O2 was simultaneously generated by the sparged O-2 using a carbon-polytetrafluorethylene (C-PTFE) cathode. The O-3 and H2O2 electrogenerated in situ synergistically produce hydroxyl radicals (center dot OH), which are much more easily oxidized than O-3. As a result, the removal efficiencies of CBZ and its TOC reached 99.8% and 97.6% after 15 min and 90 min of E-peroxone treatment, respectively, these figures remaining stable after multiple tests. The E-peroxone process is therefore a promising and effective method for degrading ozone-refractory organic contaminants in wastewater.