Effect and mechanism of norfloxacin removal by Eucalyptus leaf extract enhanced theZVI/H₂O₂ process

Baizhou LU, Zhanqiang FANG, Po Keung Eric TSANG

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7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Theconventional ZVI/HO technology suffers from poor reagent utilization,excess iron sludge generation, and strong low pH dependence. Therefore,eucalyptus leaf extract (ELE) was introduced to improve ZVI/HO technology, and the efficacy and mechanism of ELEpromoting ZVI/HO technology were deeply explored. The results showedthat the norfloxacin (NOR) removal and kobs of the ZVI/HO/ELE process were enhanced by 35.64 % and 3.27 times,respectively, compared to the ZVI/HO process. In the ZVI/HO process, the production of three reactive oxygenspecies (ROS: ¹O,·O,·OH) was effectively promoted by ELE so that thereaction efficacy was significantly enhanced. Moreover, the attack anddegradation of pollutants by ROS was the main way to remove pollutants. Withthe introduction of ELE, the reactive sites on the catalyst appearance wereincreased to some extent, and the Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycle was improved. Theanalysis showed that ELE is rich in titratable acids and the ZVI/HO technology is promoted mainly by lowering the pH of theprocess. In addition, the chelation of ELE and the reduction in pH by the ELEsynergistically enhanced the ZVI/HO technology, which significantly improved the reagentutilization (4.70 times for ZVI and 3.03 times for HO), broadened the pH range of the technology (6–9) and wasable to effectively reduce the iron sludge contamination (30.33 %) of theprocess. Therefore, the study offers an important value to study eucalyptusleaves in micron-scale ZVI-Fenton technology. Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Article number169820
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume914
Early online dateJan 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

Citation

Lu, B., Fang, Z., & Tsang, P. E. (2024). Effect and mechanism of norfloxacin removal by Eucalyptus leaf extract enhanced the ZVI/H₂O₂ process. Science of the Total Environment, 914, Article 169820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169820

Keywords

  • Fenton-like
  • Eucalyptus leaf
  • Plant extract
  • Norfloxacin
  • Zero-valent iron

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