Overview of electrocatalytic treatment of antibiotic pollutants in wastewater

Abuse of antibiotics in animal husbandry and medicine has led to severe environmental problems especially the risk of bacterial resistance. Different from common organic pollutants, antibiotics in wastewater could not be easily removed by biological treatment because of their poor biodegradability. Electrocatalysis including electrocatalytic oxidation and reduction has gained great attention for the removal of antibiotic contaminants in wastewater due to its advantages of high efficiency, simple operation, and thorough degradation. This review summarizes the common features and synthesis methods as well as research progress of electrode materials used in the electrocatalytic process for the treatment of antibiotics in the last five years. The removal mechanism and transformation pathways of antibiotics in the electrocatalytic oxidation and reduction processes are presented, especially to avoid the second pollution. Cost aspects in the electrocatalytic process are also discussed by considering practical applications and comparison with adsorption and photocatalysis process. Finally, several developing directions of electrocatalysis in the antibiotic wastewater treatment are proposed as a guidance for further research.