Study of the atenolol degradation using a Nb/BDD electrode in a filter-press reactor.

The present paper deals with the atenolol (ATL) degradation by advanced anodic oxidation using a boron-doped diamond anode supported on niobium (Nb/BDD). Cyclic voltammetry performed on this electrode revealed that it presents a high quality (diamond-sp/sp-carbon ratio), high potential for OER and that ATL can be oxidized directly and/or indirectly by the electrogenerated oxidants, such as hydroxyl radicals, persulfate ions and sulfate radicals. Electrolysis experiments demonstrated that ATL degradation and mineralization follow a mixed (first and zero) order kinetics depending on the applied current density.