Enhanced favipiravir drug degradation using the synergy of PbO-based anodic oxidation and Fe-MOF-based cathodic electro-Fenton.

Favipiravir (FAV) is a widely utilized antiviral drug effective against various viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and RNA viruses. This article aims to introduce a novel approach, known as Linear-Paired Electrocatalytic Degradation (LPED), as an efficient technique for the electrocatalytic degradation of emerging pollutants. LPED involves simultaneously utilizing a carbon-Felt/Co-PbO anode and a carbon-felt/Co/Fe-MOF-74 cathode, working together to degrade and mineralize FAV. The prepared anode and cathode characteristics were analyzed using XPS, SEM, EDX mapping, XRD, LSV, and CV analyses. A rotatable central composite design-based quadratic model was employed to optimize FAV degradation, yielding statistically desirable results. Under optimized conditions (pH = 5, current density = 4.2 mA/cm, FAV concentration = 0.4 mM), individual processes of cathodic electro-Fenton and anodic oxidation with a CF/Co-PbO anode achieved degradation rates of 58.9% and 89.5% after 120 min, respectively. In contrast, using the LPED strategy resulted in a remarkable degradation efficiency of 98.4%. Furthermore, a cyclic voltammetric study of FAV on a glassy carbon electrode was conducted to gather additional electrochemical insights and rectify previously published data regarding redox behavior, pH-dependent properties, and adsorption activities. The research also offers a new understanding of the LPED mechanism of FAV at the surfaces of both CF/Co-PbO and CF/Co/Fe-MOF-74 electrodes, utilizing data from cyclic voltammetry and LC-MS techniques. The conceptual strategy of LPED is generalizable in order to the synergism of anodic oxidation and cathodic electro-Fenton for the degradation of other toxic and resistant pollutants.