Degradation of Cefixime Antibiotic in Water by Atmospheric Plasma Bubbles: Performance, Degradation Pathways and Toxicity Evaluation

Excessive use and indiscriminate discharge of antibiotics inevitably lead to their accumulation in the environment, posing significant ecological and physiological risks. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is receiving increasing attention as a sustainable technology for the efficient breakdown of these antibiotics as well as other contaminants. However, implementation of NTP technology still faces several hurdles, particularly the maximization of the reactive plasma effects and the practical scaling approaches. In this study, we generated NTP inside forming bubbles with enlarged gas-liquid interfacial areas for efficient delivery of reactive plasma species to target cefixime antibiotic molecules in aqueous solution. The degradation of cefixime was largely dependent on the different number of microholes, air flow rate, discharge power, plasma exposure time and solution properties. Results show that a high-performance degradation was achieved in the 10-microhole reactor with an energy yield of 1.5 g/kWh, after 30 min of plasma treatment. Based on LC-MS analysis, an NTP-initiated cefixime degradation pathway was proposed. Cytotoxicity studies demonstrated that the antibiotic activity of cefixime was effectively and wholly deactivated by the plasma process, and that no toxic effects of the 30 min-treated water were observed toward human cell lines. Furthermore, considering that air was employed as the inducer gas, which results in the formation of reactive nitrogen species in the water, the treated water was able to enhance seedling growth, further contributing to the societal and economic benefits of this plasma-based antibiotic degradation strategy.