{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,16]],"date-time":"2026-01-16T07:43:00Z","timestamp":1768549380603,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]],"date-time":"2025-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758499200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"\u201cPioneer\u201d and \u201cLeading Goose\u201d R&amp;D Program of Zhejiang","award":["2023C03149"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023C03149"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Amitriptyline (AMT), a widely prescribed antidepressant, and its metabolites have emerged as significant environmental contaminants, posing substantial risks to aquatic organisms and human health. Systematic and in-depth investigations into advanced anode materials, coupled with a profound elucidation of their electrochemical mechanisms, are imperative for the development of efficacious technologies for AMT removal. In this study, a series of amorphous carbon-encapsulated zinc oxide (C@ZnO) modified anodes were systematically synthesized and incorporated into a persulfate-based electrochemical system (CZ-PS) to comprehensively elucidate the catalytic mechanisms and mass transfer efficiencies governing the degradation of AMT via electroperoxidation. Notably, the CZ-PS system achieved a 97.5% degradation for 5.0 mg\/L AMT within 120 min under optimized conditions (200 C@ZnO electrode, pH 7.0, current density 20 mA\/cm2, PS concentration 0.5 mM), significantly outperforming the single PS system (37.8%) or the pure electrocatalytic system. Quenching experiments and EPR analysis confirmed hydroxyl radicals (\u2022OH) and sulfate radicals (SO4\u2022\u2212) as the dominant reactive species. Both acidic and neutral pH conditions were demonstrated to favorably enhance the electrocatalytic degradation efficiency by improving adsorption performance and inhibiting \u2022OH decomposition. The system retained &gt;90% degradation efficiency after 5 electrode cycles. Three degradation pathways and 13 intermediates were identified via UPLC\u2013MS\/MS analysis, including side-chain demethylation and oxidative ring-opening of the seven-membered ring to form aldehyde\/carboxylic acid compounds, ultimately mineralizing into CO2 and H2O. It demonstrates strong engineering potential and provides a green, high-efficiency strategy for antibiotic wastewater treatment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules30183835","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]],"date-time":"2025-09-22T11:18:16Z","timestamp":1758539896000},"page":"3835","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Enhanced Amitriptyline Degradation by Electrochemical Activation of Peroxydisulfate: Mechanisms of Interfacial Catalysis and Mass Transfer"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"30","author":[{"given":"Teer","family":"Wen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310018, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fangying","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310018, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yao","family":"Yue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310018, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chuqiao","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310018, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yunfei","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310018, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiafeng","family":"Ding","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310018, China"},{"name":"Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Wetland Intelligent Monitoring and Ecological Restoration, Hangzhou 311121, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"150647","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2021.150647","article-title":"Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in landfills: A review","volume":"806","author":"Zhang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci. 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