Ferrate–acetylacetonate system to promote the degradation of sulfadimethoxine in mariculture tailwater

Abstract

The antibiotic residue in mariculture tailwater is an urgent environmental problem that needs to be addressed, and the development of effective treatment technologies is one of the solutions. Ferrate (Fe(VI))–acetylacetone (AA) has great potential for the degradation of antibiotics in mariculture tailwater. This study found that Fe(VI)–AA degradation of sulfadimethoxine (SDM) showed good results. When [Fe(VI)]₀ : [AA]₀ = 8 : 1, the removal rate of SDM could reach 95.73% in 10 min, which is a 66.01% enhancement over the result of Fe(VI) alone. Under the actual mariculture tailwater conditions, Fe(VI)–AA still removed 77.9% of SDM in 10 min, which is still 36.4% higher than the degradation result of Fe(VI) alone, indicating that it has good potential for application. A series of quenching experiments showed that high-valent iron (Fe(V), Fe(IV)) was the main active substance in the degradation of SDM by Fe(VI)–AA. ECOSAR analysis showed that most of the by-products produced by Fe(VI)–AA degradation of SDM were at non-toxic and low-toxicity levels, proving that Fe(VI)–AA is a green and efficient water treatment technology.