photocatalytic degradation of penicillin g from simulated wastewater using the uv/zno process: isotherm and kinetic study

Pharmaceutical contaminants, including antibiotics, present in the environment, especially water resources, are a main concern for human and environmental health due to their stability and non-degradability. accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the photocatalytic removal of penicillin g antibiotic from simulated wastewater using a photocatalytic process [uv/zno] in an isotherm and kinetic study. in the current research, the zno nanoparticles [zno nps] were initially characterized by scanning electron microscope [sem] and x-ray diffraction [xrd]. then, its efficiency was investigated in the photocatalytic degradation process of penicillin g. the evaluated parameters in the adsorption process penicillin g antibiotic were ph [1–5], penicillin g concentration [10–30 mgl−1], np dosage [0.5–4.5 gl−1] and contact time [5 to 200 min]. then, the effect of ph [3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and], penicillin g concentration [10–30 mgl−1], np dosage [0.01–1.5 gl−1] and contact time [5 to 200 min] in the photocatalytic degradation (uv/zno) was studied. the residual penicillin g concentration was measured using a spectrophotometery at a wavelength of 283 nm. the results indicated that the penicillin g removal efficiency of photocatalytic process [uv/zno] using zno was 74.65% at the concentration of 10 mgl−1, the ph value of 5, the zno np dosage of 0.1 gl−1 and the contact time of 180 min, as well as the kinetics of degradation followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. it can be concluded that the use of this process is appropriate an effective for the removal of the antibiotic pollutants.