The simultaneous use of electrooxidation and UV light for atenolol degradation

            Atenolol (ATL), a beta-blocker drug used in treating heart disease and vascular disease, is a non-biodegradable compound and long persistence in the environment. This study aims to use the electrooxidation combined with UV irradiation (UV/EO) for ATL removal, compared with the electrooxidation (EO) process, UV irradiation, and chlorination. In addition, effect of current density (CD) and electrolytic concentrations was studied. The results showed that the UV/EO process exhibited the greatest ATL removal, compared with other treatments. Increases in CD and electrolytic concentration enhanced the ATL removal. The degradation rate constant (k') in the UV/EO process (CD = 5 mA·cm^-2, NaCl = 500 mg·L^-1, pH 7, temperature 25 °C), the EO process, UV irradiation, and chlorination were 0.0628, 0.0220, 0.0051, and 0.0036 min^-1, respectively.