Journal of Natural Environment

Investigation of removal of amoxicillin antibiotic from water by photocatalyst in different operating conditions

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 University of Isfahan

2 University of Paris 13

3 University of paris 13

4 university of paris 13

Abstract

Wastewater is one of the environmental pollution that should be collected, treated and, if possible, recycled back into the water cycle. Antibiotics are hazardous environmental pollutants and have been named as emergency contaminants due to their unique physical and chemical structures. Advanced oxidation processes are a powerful method for the degradation of contaminated water containing inorganic pollutions. Its main mechanism is based on the production of free radicals that have been very effective in eliminating organic materials. In this study, the effect of solar photocatalyst in order to remove amoxicillin from contaminated water by photocatalyst have been investigated and the effects of pollutant concentrations, photocatalyst concentration and initial pH have been investigated. The sun's ultraviolet energy is used to active photocatalyst. The reactor used in this study has a combined parabolic collectors that have the best performance. Among the parameters studied, pH, photocatalytic concentration, and pollutant concentrations had the highest effect on degradation efficiency, respectively. According to this study, amoxicillin degradation in alkaline condition is well done. In the same conditions, with an increase in pH from 3.5 to 9.5, the degradation efficiency increased to 83.51 percent. High efficiency in alkaline pH due to the higher hydroxylation of amoxicillin and the instability of its beta-lactam ring, and the production of more radical hydroxyl with respect to the physical and chemical structure of the pollutant and photocatalyst. According to the results, solar photocatalyst is a suitable method for the removal of amoxicillin from wastewater.

Keywords

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Journal of Natural Environment
Volume 72, Issue 3
July 2019
Pages 379-388