An Integrated View of the Intimate Coupling UV Irradiation and Algal Treatment on Antibiotic: Compatibility, Efficiency and Microbic Impact Assessment

The aim of this study is to investigate the UV and algal contribution in an intimate coupling UV irradiation and algal treatment to remove two commonly used antibiotics, cefradine and amoxicillin (AMX), including the compatibility of UV wavelength and the algal species, the removal efficiency evaluation and the microbic impact assessment. The green algae Chlorella pyrenoidosa, Selenastrum capricornutum and Scenedesmus obliquus achieved a satisfactory growth capacity and played a dominant role during the treatment. The optimal application involved the UV-irradiation at 365nm combined the green algae S. obliquus. After 24h, the excellent removal efficiency (99.84%) was obtained after the treatment. Our results indicated that the green algae performed a satisfactory growth capacity under the UV irradiation and played a dominant role for the biodegradation of the target antibiotics and the UV irradiation has been viewed as trigger for the algal treatment. Compared with the traditional biotechnology, the advantages of the intimate coupling treatment included high removal efficiency, energy conservation during the treatment, and low environmental impact after the treatment.