The electroactive membrane (EM) technology can effectively degrade antibiotics. However, impacts of different coexisting contaminants in real wastewater on the degradation of antibiotics of EMs lacks deep understanding. Based on real membrane bioreactor (MBR) effluent, this study differentiated the impacts of organic and inorganic fractions on sulfamethoxazole (SMX) degradation of an EM. In the MBR effluent, the SMX removal rate was only ∼ 27 mg/(m²·h), significantly lower than that in the synthetic feed (∼ 677 mg/(m²·h)). Small effluent organic matters (EfOMs) were identified as the key contributors that suppressed SMX degradation. Two primary mechanisms were confirmed, one being their reactivity on the EM, and the other being their attachment onto the EM that covered the reactive sites. On the other hand, positive impacts were found for large EfOMs and inorganic ions besides their negative impacts. The deposition of large EfOMs and inorganic precipitates on the EM surface partly prevented small EfOMs from covering interior reactive sites of the EM, and these fouling layers also extended the SMX retention time within the EM by remarkably decreasing the membrane flux. These results highlight the importance of carefully selecting pretreatment processes for EMs to mitigate the impacts of coexisting contaminants on antibiotic degradation.

中文翻译：

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流出有机物、无机离子的作用及其在影响电活性膜降解抗生素中的相互作用

电活性膜 （EM） 技术可以有效降解抗生素。然而，实际废水中不同共存污染物对 EMs 抗生素降解的影响缺乏深入的了解。基于真实的膜生物反应器 （MBR） 流出物，本研究区分了有机和无机馏分对磺胺甲噁唑 （SMX） 降解 EM 的影响。在 MBR 流出物中，SMX 去除率仅为 ∼ 27 mg/（m²·h），显著低于合成进料中的 （∼ 677 mg/（m²·h））。小流出有机物 （EfOMs） 被确定为抑制 SMX 降解的关键贡献者。证实了两种主要机制，一种是它们对 EM 的反应性，另一种是它们附着在覆盖反应位点的 EM 上。另一方面，除了负面影响外，还发现了对大 EfOMs 和无机离子的积极影响。大的 EfOM 和无机沉淀物在 EM 表面上的沉积部分阻止了小的 EfOM 覆盖 EM 的内部反应位点，这些污染层还通过显着降低膜通量延长了 SMX 在 EM 内的保留时间。这些结果强调了仔细选择 EM 预处理工艺的重要性，以减轻共存污染物对抗生素降解的影响。