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Impact of humic acid on the degradation of levofloxacin by aqueous permanganate: Kinetics and mechanism

Ke Xu, Weiwei Ben, Wen-Cui Ling, Yu Zhang, J. Qu, Z. Qiang

Water Research, 2017

152 citations

Abstract

Levofloxacin (LF) is a frequently detected fluoroquinolone in surface water, and permanganate (MnO4-) is a commonly used oxidant in drinking water treatment. This study investigated the impact of humic acid (HA) on LF degradation by aqueous MnO4- from both kinetic and mechanistic aspects. In the absence of HA, the second-order rate constant (k) of LF degradation by MnO4- was determined to be 3.9 M-1 s-1 at pH 7.5, which increased with decreasing pH. In the presence of HA, the pseudo-first-order rate constant (kobs) of LF degradation at pH 7.5 was significantly increased by 3.8- and 2.8-fold at [HA]o:[KMnO4]o (mass ratio) = 0.5 and 1, respectively. Secondary oxidant scavenging and electron paramagnetic resonance tests indicated that HA could form a complex with Mn(III), a strongly oxidative intermediate produced in the reaction of MnO4- with HA, to induce the successive formation of superoxide radicals (O2-) and hydroxyl radicals (OH). The resulting OH primarily contributed to the accelerated LF degradation, and the complex [HA-Mn(III)] could account for the rest of acceleration. The degradation of LF and its byproducts during MnO4- oxidation was mainly through hydroxylation, dehydrogenation and carboxylation, and the presence of HA led to a stronger destruction of LF. This study helps better understand the degradation of organic micropollutants by MnO4- in drinking water treatment.

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