Comprehensive solution for acetamiprid degradation: Combined electro-Fenton and adsorption process

In recent times, electro-Fenton treatment has become a very interesting approach in which the powerful oxidants, hydroxyl radicals, are generated by the combination of Fenton's reaction and electrochemical process. However, in several cases, total removal of pollutants such as acetamiprid from effluents after advanced oxidation processes was not completely reduced because of the presence of inorganic ions. In this work, the development of heterogeneous catalyst was performed by the manufacture of iron-base-hydrogel catalysts. The catalytic activity and physical resistance of the different iron-base-hydrogels were assessed at different operational conditions and the catalyst which provided the best performance was a mixture of polyvinyl alcohol-alginate-goethite. After electro-Fenton treatment of acetamiprid, the presence of inorganic pollutants, Cl− NO3− and NH4+, was detected and a combined electro-Fenton and adsorption process was developed for a total remediation. Under optimal conditions, the simulation of the continuous operation in an electro-Fenton reactor and the subsequent treatment of the water stream generated by fixed-bed adsorption filter containing activated carbon were performed. The obtained results permit to conclude that a combined treatment of electro-Fenton and adsorption process can be an appropriate approach for the comprehensive remediation of water streams.