Production and characterization of granular activated carbon from activated sludge

In this study, activated sludge was used as a precursor to prepare activated carbon using sulfuric acid as a chemical activation agent. The effect of preparation conditions on the produced activated carbon characteristics as an adsorbent was investigated. The results indicate that the produced activated carbon has a highly porous structure and a specific surface area of 580 m²/g. The FT-IR analysis depicts the presence of a variety of functional groups which explain its improved adsorption behavior against pesticides. The XRD analysis reveals that the produced activated carbon has low content of inorganic constituents compared with the precursor. The adsorption isotherm data were fitted to three adsorption isotherm models and found to closely fit the BET model with R² equal 0.948 at pH 3, indicating a multilayer of pesticide adsorption. The maximum loading capacity of the produced activated carbon was 110 mg pesticides/g adsorbent and was obtained at this pH value. This maximum loading was found experimentally to steeply decrease as the solution pH increases. The obtained results show that activated sludge is a promising low cost precursor for the production of activated carbon

Degradation of azithromycin using Ti/RuO2 anode as catalyst followed by DPV, HPLC-UV and MS analysis

The electrodegradation of azithromycin was studied by its indirect oxidation using dimensionally stable Ti/RuO2 anode as catalyst in the electrolyte containing methanol, 0.05 M NaHCO3, sodium chloride and deionized water. The optimal conditions for galvanostatic electrodegradation for the azithromycin concentration of 0.472 mg cm(-3) were found to be NaCl concentration of 7 mg cm(-3) and the applied current of 300 mA. The differential pulse voltammetry using glassy carbon electrode was performed for the first time in the above-mentioned content of electrolyte for the nine concentration of azithromycin (0.075-0.675 mg cm(-3)) giving the limits of azithromycin detection and of quantification as: LOD 0.044 mg cm(-3) and LOQ 0.145 mg cm(-3). The calibration curve was constructed enabling the electrolyte analysis during its electrodegradation process. The electrolyte was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The electrooxidation products were identified and after 180 min there was no azithromycin in the electrolyte while TOC analysis showed that 79% of azithromycin was mineralized. The proposed degradation scheme is presented