Electro Fenton process catalyzed by Fe@Fe2O3 nanowire for degradation of carbamazepine from aqueous solutions.

In this study, Fe@Fe₂O₃ nanowires were applied in combination with electro Fenton (EF) process to decompose of carbamazepine (CBZ) drug in an electrochemical reactor using a graphite rod cathode and Ti/PbO2 anode. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design was used to optimize various parameters such as pH, current, FeSO4·7H2O, drug and Fe@Fe₂O₃ concentrations, and reaction time. The results of RSM showed a good statistical relationship between experimental values of CBZ removal and their predicted values using the suggested multi-parameter model. The efficacy of CBZ removal significantly enhanced with increasing density, Fe@Fe₂O₃ nanowire dose, and reaction time, while it was reduced with increasing pH, FeSO4·7H2O concentration, and initial concentration of the drug. The results on a percentage of contribution and the F-value (PC% = 42.99 and F = 346.4003) showed that Fe@Fe₂O₃ dose plays an important role in increasing the efficiency of the electro Fenton process. RSM results also revealed that EF process effectively removed 88.55% of CBZ and 65% of total organic carbon from aqueous solutions under optimum conditions; that is pH = 4, current = 0.18 A (current density = 5.14 mA cm^-2), FeSO₄·7H₂O concentration = 3.87 mg L^-1, CBZ concentration = 7.49 mg L^-1, Fe@Fe₂O₃ dose = 1,050 mg L^-1, and reaction time = 50 min. The utilized multi-parameter optimization approach revealed the presence of interactions between pH with FeSO₄·7H₂O concentration and pH with reaction time. As a conclusion EF process catalyzed by Fe@Fe₂O₃ nanowire can be used for the removal of pharmaceutical compounds such as CBZ from aqueous solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]