The unveiling of a dynamic duo: hydrodynamic cavitation and cold plasma for the degradation of furosemide in wastewater

The degradation in water of furosemide (FUR), a widely used diuretic drug, was herein reported. The method entails an integrated approach based on the hybridisation of hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) with electrical discharge (ED) plasma technology. This dynamic duo could increase the production of oxidising compounds in water, in particular hydroxyl radicals (OH radicals), by triggering the rapid homolytic decomposition of water molecules and avoiding the addition of external oxidants. This study clearly emphasises the effectiveness of an integrated approach to improve the degradation of pollutants in wastewater originating from active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The results of HC/ED-assisted FUR degradation in the presence of radical scavengers highlight the predominant role of the radical oxidation mechanism at the gas–liquid interface of the cavitation bubble during HC/ED treatment. A comparative analysis of the three technologies—HC alone, HC/ED and UV alone—emphasised the promising potential of hybrid HC/ED as a scalable industrial technology. This is demonstrated by the higher degradation rates (100%, 10 min) when treating large volumes (5L) of wastewater contaminated with FUR (50 mg/L), even in the presence of other APIs.