Effect of microplastics on simultaneous degradation of antibiotics and bacterial inactivation in groundwater and secondary wastewater treatment plant effluents with Fenton process using pyrite as the catalyst

Pyrite is a naturally occurring soil mineral that can be used as a reactive material in Fenton process for the treatment of groundwater and wastewater treatment plant effluent containing various micropollutants and microorganisms. However, microplastics enter into domestic wastewater and natural systems through some anthropogenic activities, and may interact with soil minerals in subsurface environment. In this study, batch experiments were conducted to determine the role of microplastics on simultaneous degradation of antibiotics and bacterial inactivation in groundwater and secondary wastewater treatment plant effluents with Fenton process using pyrite as the catalyst. Our results indicate that the removal of antibiotics and bacterial inactivation from water is driven by a combined effect of adsorption, followed by oxidative degradation/inactivation on pyrite surface. However, the presence of microplastics in water adversely affects the degradation of antibiotics and bacterial inactivation with pyrite-based Fenton process since they interact with pyrite surface through hydrophobic bonding, thereby reducing the catalytic activity of pyrite for an effective Fenton operation. 

Note: This study was partly funded by a research grant from Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University under a grant number of FDK-2025-5103.