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Homogeneous photo‐Fenton mineralization of the antibiotic sulfamethazine in water under UV ‐A, visible and solar irradiation
Author(s) -
Kitsiou Vassiliki,
Antoniadis Apostolos,
Mantzavinos Dionissios,
Poulios Ioannis
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.4237
Subject(s) - mineralization (soil science) , photocatalysis , aqueous solution , irradiation , homogeneous , chemistry , nuclear chemistry , degradation (telecommunications) , environmental chemistry , sunlight , nitrogen , catalysis , optics , telecommunications , biochemistry , physics , organic chemistry , computer science , nuclear physics , thermodynamics
BACKGROUND The presence of pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment is an emerging issue due to their uncontrolled release and accumulation in the environment that may affect living organisms, ecosystems and public health. As a result, efforts are being made to develop methods to inactivate or eliminate this class of substance in the environment. RESULTS The homogeneous photocatalytic degradation of sulfamethazine (SMT), a sulfanilamide drug, has been investigated in aqueous solutions using artificial and solar illumination. The effects of initial concentration of H 2 O 2 (10–400 mg L ‐1 ), Fe 3+ (3.5–28 mg L ‐1 ), SMT (10–40 mg L ‐1 ), as well as temperature (280–323 K) on mineralization rates were evaluated in a bench‐scale Pyrex reactor for the photo‐Fenton/UV‐A and photo‐Fenton/Vis processes. SMT degradation was accompanied by the release of inorganic nitrogen and sulphate ions. Experiments under natural sunlight conditions were performed in a pilot‐scale, fountain reactor at light intensities between 0.49 and 2.83 mW cm ‐2 . CONCLUSIONS An increase in the level of the parameters had a positive effect, with photo‐Fenton/UV‐A (at 0.94 × 10 −4 einstein L −1 min −1 light flux provided by a 9 W lamp at 366 nm maximum response) being more effective than photo‐Fenton/Vis (at 0.88 × 10 −4 einstein L −1 min −1 also provided by a 9 W lamp at 440 nm maximum response). Illumination for 120 min in the case of the pilot‐scale reactor at 2 mW cm ‐2 intensity led to more than 70% mineralization of 20 mg L ‐1 SMT, thus showing that process scale‐up is feasible. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry