Study of degradation of amitriptyline antidepressant by different electrochemical advanced oxidation processes

Amitriptyline (AMT) is the most widely used tricyclic antidepressant and is classified as a recalcitrant emergent contaminant because it has been detected in different sources of water. Its accumulation in water and soil represents a risk for different living creatures. To remove amitriptyline from wastewater, the Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) stands up as an interesting option since generate highly oxidized species as hydroxyl radicals (center dot OH) by environmentally friendly mechanism. In this work, the oxidation and mineralization of AMT solution have been comparatively studied by 3 Electrochemical AOPs (EAOPs) where the center dot OH is produced by anodic oxidation of H2O (AO-H2O2), or by electro-Fenton (EF) or photoelectro-Fenton (PEF). PEF process with a BDD anode showed the best performance for degradation and mineralization of this drug due to the synergistic action of highly reactive physiosorbed BDD (center dot OH), homogeneous center dot OH and UVA radiation. This process achieved total degradation of AMT at 50 min of electrolysis and 95% of mineralization after 360 min of treatment with 0.5 mmol L-1 Fe2+ at 100 mA cm(-2). Six aromatic intermediates for the drug mineralization were identified in short time of electrolysis by GC-MS, including a chloroaromatic by-product formed from the attack of active chlorine. Short-chain carboxylic acids like succinic, malic, oxalic and formic acid were quantified by ion-exclusion HPLC. Furthermore, the formation of NO3- ions was monitored. Finally, the organic intermediates identified by chromatographic techniques were used to propose the reaction sequence for the total mineralization of AMT. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Amitriptyline is a widely used tricyclic antidepressant that has been detected in various water sources, posing a risk to different living organisms. The Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs), particularly the photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) process, shows promising results for the degradation and mineralization of this drug in wastewater treatment.