Synergistic sonocatalytic degradation of carbamazepine and 17α-ethinylestradiol in the presence of carbon nanotube yarn

초록

Pharmaceuticals such as carbamazepine and endocrine disruptors such as 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol are persistently present in aquatic environments and pose serious ecological and human health concerns due to their chemical stability and limited removal efficiency by conventional wastewater treatment methods. In this study, a carbon nanotube yarn catalyzed high-frequency ultrasonic system was developed to synergistically enhance the degradation of carbamazepine and 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol. carbon nanotube yarn, which is well known for its high surface area, chemical stability, and good electrical conductivity, was applied to a 970 kHz ultrasonic reactor to amplify acoustic cavitation and promote center dot OH generation. Kinetic analysis confirmed that the combined ultrasonic US-assisted catalytic system with carbon nanotube yarn process enhanced degradation performance, with synergistic indices of 1.39 for carbamazepine and 1.73 for 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol, significant improvement over ultrasonic alone. Enhanced radical generation was validated using electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. In addition, the ultrasonic-assisted catalytic system with carbon nanotube yarn system showed stable catalytic activity and good reusability with an efficiency decrease of less than 10 % over five consecutive treatment cycles. The excellent pharmaceutical removal performance and retention of carbon nanotube yarn under repeated ultrasonic exposure indicates good catalytic performance and durability. The main mechanistic insight shows that carbon nanotube yarn promotes oxidative degradation via radical amplification. These results highlight the significant potential of the ultrasonic-assisted catalytic system with carbon nanotube yarn system as an efficient and scalable advanced oxidation technology to remediate persistent organic contaminants in environmental water.

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