Coupling ultraviolet light and ultrasound irradiation with Conductive-Diamond Electrochemical Oxidation for the removal of progesterone

This work focusses on the improvement of the efficiency of Conductive Diamond Electrochemical Oxidation (CDEO) by coupling US and UV irradiation in the degradation of progesterone from wastewater. Results show that CDEO is a promising technology for the degradation of progesterone, just the opposite of that observed for single sonolysis and photolysis technologies, which only entail a slight removal of progesterone and nil mineralization. Coupling UV light and US irradiations with CDEO seems to have a very positive effect, improving results obtained by single CDEO very significantly. Conductive Diamond Sono Electrochemical Oxidation (CDSEO) mainly seems to improve the transfer of pollutants to the conductive-diamond surface, while Conductive Diamond Photo Electrochemical Oxidation (CDPEO) seems to promote the formation of radicals from oxidants produced electrochemically. Soft oxidation conditions are obtained with the single application of both irradiation technologies, whereas an efficient mineralization is attained with CDEO, CDSEO, CDPEO and Conductive Diamond Sono-Photo Electrochemical Oxidation (CDSPEO). However, the high energy demands of US irradiation technologies advices against the use of CDSEO and CDSPEO. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.