Degradation of sulphamethazine by means of an improved photo-Fenton process involving a hydrogen peroxide systematic dosage.

Despite being acknowledged as an emerging contaminant, sulphamethazine (SMT) degradation has received scarce attention in the advanced oxidation processes field. Thus, this work addresses the degradation of SMT in water solutions (12 L of 25mgL-1 samples) by means of a photo-Fenton process and a systematic H202 dosage protocol that enhances its performance. A conventional photo-Fenton process led to 86% mineralization after 120 min treatment when adding the Fenton reactants at once (initial concentrations were 10mgL-1 Fe(II) and 200mgL-1 H2O2).

Photonic efficiency of the photodegradation of paracetamol in water by the photo-Fenton process.

An experimental study of the homogeneous Fenton and photo-Fenton degradation of 4-amidophenol (paracetamol, PCT) is presented. For all the operation conditions evaluated, PCT degradation is efficiently attained by both Fenton and photo-Fenton processes. Also, photonic efficiencies of PCT degradation and mineralization are determined under different experimental conditions, characterizing the influence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Fe(II) on both contaminant degradation and sample mineralization.