Acetaminophen Removal from Aqueous Solutions by TiO2-X photo catalyst

Pharmaceutical wastes are in group of emerging contaminants. These materials cannot be removed completely with conventional treatment methods of water and wastewater. Drug and its metabolites, due to the potential risks toxic and toxicity potential to humans and environment should be removed from the water resources. In this study, Acetaminophen photo catalytic removal from aqueous solutions was investigated by X zeolite modified with TiO2 (TiO2/ X zeolite).
This study was experimental and carried out on a laboratory scale. To remove acetaminophen from aqueous solution, TiO2/X zeolite photo-catalyst under UV-C radiation (UV/TiO2-X process) was used. Acetaminophen concentration of soluble was measured using by spectrophotometer UV/Vis in λmax ~ 243nm. The optimal conditions of pH, catalyst dosage, acetaminophen initial concentration and reaction time were determined and also acetaminophen disintegration reaction kinetics was studied by TiO2-X catalyst. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics.
The results indicated that maximum removal of acetaminophen(95.45%) was related to 1 mg/L of initial concentration in the neutral pH and a catalyst concentration of 500 mg/L after 75min of start of photo-catalytic reaction. By decreasing concentration of acetaminophen its removal rates will increase. The Acetaminophen degradation kinetic with UV/TiO2-X process followed a pseudo-first order reaction with rate constants of 0.01446 min-1.
The Photocatalytic method of UV/TiO2-X to remove acetaminophen from aqueous solutions has a high efficiency and is recommended.