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Grant support

This work has been supported by the Spanish MICINN through the project CATAD3.0 PID2020-116478RB-I00. In addition, the authors thank the financial support from the Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) through the Industrial PhD projects (IND2017/AMB-7720 and IND2019/AMB-17114), REMTAVARES Network (S2018/EMT-4341) and the European Social Fund. MVG also thanks Grant PID2021-125295OB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe" and the Junta de Extremadura and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER), through Grant No. GR21039. The authors are grateful for the Supercomputer facility LUSITANIA funded by CenitS and the Computaex Foundation.

Analysis of institutional authors

Gutierrez-Sanchez, PabloCorresponding Author

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Article

Efficient removal of antibiotic ciprofloxacin by catalytic wet air oxidation using sewage sludge-based catalysts: Degradation mechanism by DFT studies

Publicated to:Journal Of Environmental Chemical Engineering. 11 (2): 109344- - 2023-01-24 11(2), DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2023.109344

Authors: Gutierrez-Sanchez, Pablo; Alvarez-Torrellas, Silvia; Larriba, Marcos; Gil, M Victoria; Garrido-Zoido, Juan M; Garcia, Juan

Affiliations

Univ Complutense Madrid, Fac Chem, Chem Engn & Mat Dept, Catalysis & Separat Proc Grp, Avda Complutense S N, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Univ Extremadura, Fac Ciencias, Dept Quim Organ Inorgan, E-06006 Badajoz, Spain - Author
Univ Extremadura, IACYS Unidad Quim Verde & Desarrollo Sostenible, E-06006 Badajoz, Spain - Author

Abstract

In this work, the sewage sludge-derived activated carbon (SAC) loaded with iron nanoparticles (FeSAC) showed a highly effective catalytic activity in the degradation of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin by the CWAO reaction. The properties of FeSAC catalyst were studied by using N2 adsorption-desorption measurements at 77 K, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The CWAO reaction was evaluated at different temperatures (120-140 oC), total pressure (10-30 bar) and catalyst doses (0.1-0.7 g/L) in a batch reactor. In this regard, temperature and catalyst dosage showed a significant impact on the removal of the tested antibiotic. By using a catalyst dose of 0.7 g/L, ciprofloxacin degradation and CO2 selectivity were higher than 99 % and 60 %, respectively, and were achieved within two hours at 140 degrees C and 20 bar. The loss of the active phase (Fe) of the catalyst in the reaction medium was measured, obtaining negligible values (less than 24 ppb). This catalyst showed high stability under the tested reaction conditions. In addition, a potential equation was proposed to correctly describe the evolution of cip-rofloxacin degradation. The calculated activation energy of the CWAO process was 53.8 kJ/mol. Additionally, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were performed to illustrate the degradation mechanism of cip-rofloxacin, where the electronic energies indicated the compounds that are most difficult to degrade by CWAO. Finally, a proof of concept using an environmentally-relevant matrix was carried out, verifying the technical feasibility of the synthesized catalyst for its application with more complex matrices, consecutive reaction cycles and at a low treatment cost.

Keywords

Catalytic wet air oxidationCiprofloxacinComputational studyCwpIron catalystsKineticsMetalOzonePharmaceuticalsPhenolSewage sludge valorizatioSulfamethoxazoleTemperatureWaste-water

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Journal Of Environmental Chemical Engineering due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position 18/170, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Engineering, Chemical. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 2.99. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 8.17 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-12, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 26
  • Scopus: 37

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-12:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 58 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

    Leadership analysis of institutional authors

    There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (GUTIERREZ SANCHEZ, PABLO) .

    the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been GUTIERREZ SANCHEZ, PABLO.