Degradation of tetracycline antibiotics by advanced oxidation processes: application of MnO2 nanomaterials

Recently, pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) have emerged out globally as a new category of harmful contaminant. Tetracycline group of antibiotics (TCs), including tetracycline (TC), oxytetracycline (OTC), tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) and chlorotetracycline (CTC), is also included in this group. The human health and ecosystem have been affected adversely by TCs. In the last few decades, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have come out as one of the most sought out techniques for removing antibiotics from aqueous matrices. Here, we have highlighted and compared the existing MnO2-based degradation methods of TCs. Special reference is made on the application of MnO2 nanosheets as elaborated earlier. The MnO2 is highly porous having very high surface area. Optimization of reaction parameters and the method of TCH degradation is the main focus of the paper. A comparative study of the present method with the existing methods has been done.