Degradation of antibiotics by electrochemical oxidation: Current issues, environmental risks, and future strategies

The escalating discharge of antibiotics and the global crisis of bacterial resistance have driven an urgent demand for advanced water treatment technologies. Electrochemical oxidation (EO) has emerged as a promising solution due to its high efficiency, operational stability, and environmental compatibility in eliminating antibiotic pollution. This review employs bibliometric analysis to explore application trends of EO technology and assess its associated environmental risks: particularly the overlooked dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Notably, current research primarily focuses on the degradation or transformation rates of target antibiotics, while often neglecting the incomplete degradation products or toxic byproducts. The review also systematically summarizes the structure-dependent environmental behavior of antibiotics, emphasizing how specific molecular features, particularly pharmacophores and certain functional groups, govern their environmental persistence and mobility. While this concept is further extended to the EO degradation of antibiotics, elucidating the dominant mechanisms of EO processes and how they preferentially target specific functional groups within antibiotic molecules, while also highlighting the potential risk that pharmacophores may retain their structural integrity and biological activity after treatment. Finally, the review proposes strategies to advance EO technology by optimizing electrode materials, improving electrochemical reactor design, and integrating synergistic degradation technologies, aiming to enhance antibiotic mineralization efficiency, minimize the formation of toxic byproducts, and broaden the applicability of EO technology to diverse water matrices. The findings provide actionable insights: to enhance the safety, scalability, and sustainability of EO systems for antibiotic wastewater treatment.