Dramatic enhancement effects of l-cysteine on the degradation of sulfadiazine in Fe3+/CaO2 system

Abstract Excessive sulfonamides accumulated in soil and groundwater seriously menace the ecological environment and human health. The performance of a Fenton-like system applying Fe3+ and calcium peroxide (CaO2) in the presence of l-cysteine(l-cys) for sulfadiazine (SDZ) degradation was investigated. Compared with other chelating agents such as citric acid, butyric acid and Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, l- cys could effectively promote the SDZ removal in Fe3+/CaO2 system. With the addition of 0.5 mM l-cys, the SDZ degradation increased from 2.14% to 66.53% in 60 min. High concentration of HCO3− inhibited the degradation of SDZ while slightly negative effects on SDZ degradation were observed in the presence of Cl− or humic acid (HA) in l-cys/Fe3+/CaO2 system. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis and radicals scavenge tests affirmed the generation of OH and O2- in l-cys/Fe3+/CaO2 system. Possible degradation pathway of SDZ was speculated and the toxicity of SDZ intermediates was further evaluated. l-cys could enhance the reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+ and reduced the Fe3+ precipitation due to the l- cys could form stable complexes with Fe3+. l- cys/Fe3+/CaO2 system exhibited high mineralization ability. Overall, these results indicated that l- cys is a promising chelating agent for sulfadiazine wastewater treatment.