Photocatalytic degradation of Acetaminophen, Ciprofloxacin and Amoxicillin using UV/ZnO in a suspended photocatalytic reactor

Abstract This study aims to evaluate the photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical compounds acetaminophen (ATM), ciprofloxacin (CXN) and amoxicillin (AMX) using zinc oxide (ZnO) nano powder as photocatalyst in a suspended reactor using 16 W UV lamp. Operating parameters like pH, catalyst dosage and pollutant concentration were optimized for a working volume of 1.3 litres of model pharmaceutical compounds. In the batch study, the ZnO photodegraded ATM, CXN and AMX to ~95 % at pH 6 for 5 hrs of irradiation, ~98 % at pH 6 for 2 hrs of irradiation and ~100% at pH 10 for 3 hrs of irradiation respectively. The reaction kinetics for the degradation of ATM, AMX and CXN in this process showed pseudo-first order.