Removal of 17β-Estradiol by Electro-Fenton Process

The electrochemical advanced oxidation method “Electro-Fenton” has been applied to remove 17β-estradiol (17β) estra-1,3,5(10)-triéne-3,17-diol) in aqueous-acetonitrile mixture. This endocrine disrupting is a steroid hormone, releases from humans, animals and residual pharmaceuticals into the environmental water and usually causes suspected undesirable effects in aquatic organisms. The degradation of this organic compound by Electro-Fenton process was showed using a carbon felt cathode and platinum anode. The evolution of the concentration during treatment was followed up by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The influence of operating conditions on the degradation of 17β-estradiol by Electro-Fenton step, such as initial concentration and catalyst concentration, has been investigated and discussed. We showed that the degradation reaction obeyed apparent first-order reaction kinetics, with absolute rate constant determined as 5.12 × 10 M·s by competitive kinetics method taking Benzoic Acid as reference compound. The results confirm the efficiency of the Electro-Fenton process to degrade organic pollutant in aqueous-acetonitrile mixture.