Degradation of antibiotics by advanced oxidation processes: An overview

Antibiotics are becoming emerging contaminants due to their extensive production and consumption, which have caused hazards to the ecological environment and human health. Various techniques have been studied to remove antibiotics from water and wastewater, including biological, physical and chemical methods. Among them, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have received increasing attention due to their fast reaction rate and strong oxidation capability, which are effective for the degradation of antibiotics in aquatic environments. In this review paper, a variety of AOPs, such as Fenton or Fenton-like reaction, ozonation or catalytic ozonation, photocatalytic oxidation, electrochemical oxidation, and ionizing radiation were briefly introduced, including their principles, characteristics, main influencing factors and applications. The current applications of AOPs for the degradation of antibiotics in water and wastewater were analyzed and summarized, the concluding remarks were given and their future perspectives and challenges were discussed.