Dual function of magnetic field in enhancing antibiotic wastewater treatment by an integrated photocatalysis and fluidized bed biofilm reactor (FBBR)

Abstract

The integrated photocatalysis and fluidized bed biofilm reactor (FBBR) is an attractive wastewater treatment technique for managing wastewater containing antibiotics. However, the fast recombination of photoinduced charge and low microbial activity limit the degradation and mineralization efficiency for antibiotics. To address this, we attempt to introduce magnetic field (MF) to the integrated system with B-doped Bi₃O₄Cl as the photocatalysts to effectively improve removal and mineralization of ciprofloxacin (CIP). As a consequence, the degradation rate reaches 96% after 40 d in integrated system with MF. The biofilm inside the integrated system with MF carrier can mineralize the photocatalytic products, thereby increasing the total organic carbon (TOC) degradation rate by more than 32%. The electrochemical experiment indicates the Lorentz force generated by MF can accelerate charge separation, increasing the electron concentration. Simultaneously, the increased amounts of electrons lead to the generation of more ·OH and ·O₂^-. MF addition also results in increased biomass, increased biological respiratory activity, microbial community evolution and accelerated microbial metabolism, enabling more members to biodegrade photocatalytic intermediates. Therefore, applied MF is an efficient method to enhance CIP degradation and mineralization by the integrated system.

Keywords: Biodegradation; Lorentz force; Magnetic field; Microbial metabolomics; Photocatalysis.