Removal of penicillin G from aqueous phase by Fe+3-TiO2/UV-A process

Background: anomalous use of antibiotics and their entrance into the environment have increased concernsaround the world. these compounds enter the environment through an incomplete metabolism and aconsiderable amount of them cannot be removed using conventional wastewater treatment. therefore, the mainobjectives of this research are evaluation of the feasibility of using ultraviolet radiation (uv-a) and fortifiednanoparticles of titanium dioxide (tio2) doped with fe+3 to remove penicillin g (peng) from aqueous phase anddetermining the optimum conditions for maximum removal efficiency.results: the results showed that the maximum removal rate of penicillin g occurred in acidic ph (ph = 3) in thepresence of 90 mg/l fe+3-tio2 catalyst. in addition, an increase in ph caused a decrease in penicillin g removalrate. as the initial concentration of penicillin g increased, the removal rate of antibiotic decreased. moreover, due tothe effect of uv on catalyst activation in fe+3-tio2/uv-a process, a significant increase was observed in the rate ofantibiotic removal. all of the variables in the process had a statistically significant effect (p < 0.001).conclusion: the findings demonstrated that the antibiotic removal rate increased by decreasing ph and increasingthe amount of catalyst and contact time. in conclusion, fe+3-tio2/uv-a process is an appropriate method forreducing penicillin g in polluted water resources.