Research Center for Process and Prevention of Water Pollution

Dr. Lei Zheng published a technical paper “Tailoring the draw solution chemistry in the integrated electro-Fenton and forward osmosis for enhancing emerging contaminants removal: Performance, DFT calculation and degradation pathway” in Science of The Total Environment (IF: 10.75).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162155. In this work, an integrated electro-Fenton and forward osmosis was proposed to simultaneously separate emerging contaminants and degrade accumulated ones. In addition, an understanding of how draw solution chemistry in forward osmosis influences electro-Fenton was vital for maximizing overall treatment. Therefore, this study has determined the transport behavior of four trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) including Diuron, Atrazine, DEET and Sulfamethoxazole under several influencing factors. On the other hand, Density functional theory calculations and identified intermediates contributed to propose the possible degradation pathways for each TrOC in terms of understanding TrOCs removal mechanism. In general, this study aimed provided a foundation for the development of cost-effective integrated membrane process for emerging contaminants removal. This work was also collaborated with researchers from Southwest University, Poznan University of Technology, University of Technology Sydney.