Review on antibiotics treatment by electrochemical membrane reactor

Lower consumption, higher efficiency, environmental protection, and reliability are the development trends for the treatment of antibiotic wastewater in future. To accomplish this, the electrochemical membrane reactor (ECMR) is developed by combining membrane filtration and electrochemical advanced oxidation technology. The device configuration and working mode of the electrochemical membrane reactor are introduced and compared. Besides, the principles of the removal of antibiotics by the reactor are explained with emphasis. Furthermore, the commonly used cathode and anode materials of the reactor in the current research are summarized, and the electrode materials are discussed. The effects of selection and modification on the elimination of antibiotics in the reactor and the impact are analysed. To address the limitations of electrochemical membrane reactors, this review proposes that more research should be done in the aspects of antibiotic degradation mechanism, reduction of membrane electrode R&D costs, and actual application of amplification devices.