Electrochemical treatment of anticancer drugs wastewater containing 5-Fluoro-2-Methoxypyrimidine using a tubular porous electrode electrocatalytic reactor

Abstract A novel tubular porous electrode electrocatalytic reactor was employed to undertake electrochemical treatment of actual anticancer drugs wastewater containing 5-Fluoro-2-Methoxypyrimidine. Effects of operating parameters on the performance of the reactor were studied with the discussion of energy consumption. The results indicated that the optimal condition was flow rate of 0.31 L min −1 , pH value of 5.0, current density of 5 mA cm −2 and without supporting electrolyte. In addition, the degradation intermediates and final products of 5-Fluoro-2-Methoxypyrimidine were analyzed by GC-MS and IC system. A pathway for the electrochemical degradation was proposed as well by quantum chemical calculation using DFT method. After treatment in the reactor, COD and 5-Fluoro-2-Methoxypyrimidine of the wastewater were removed by 84.1% and 100%. Particularly, the BOD 5 /COD value and EC 50,48h value of wastewater were increased from 0.14 and 16.4% to 0.53 and 51.2% respectively, indicating a great biodegradability enhancement. Besides, the electric energy consumption and operating cost of the reactor were only 1.5 kWh kg −1 COD and $ 0.78 per ton, lower than the other conventional electrochemical reactors. The excellent performance as well as the low energy consumption of the electrocatalytic reactor confirmed that electrochemical oxidation is highly applicable for the treatment of anticancer drugs wastewater.