Oxidative degradation of sulfafurazole drug by chromium trioxide in different acidic media: a kinetic and mechanistic study

Abstract

Although antibiotics are fundamentally vital for treating human diseases, they became harmful to the ecosystem if they reach to the environment. Due to antibiotics are intensely vulnerable to oxidation, oxidation of antibiotics can be considered as a recognized tool for removal or degradation of antibiotics to save the humans and ecosystem. The existing research illuminates the kinetics of oxidative degradation of sulfafurazole antibiotic (SFZ) using chromium trioxide (CrO3) in both H2SO4 and HClO4 media. The reactions in both acidic media showed a 1: 1.33 ± 0.07 stoichiometry (SFZ: CrO3). The reliance of the rates of oxidation reactions on the reactants’ concentrations illuminated that the reactions were first order in [CrO3], whereas in [SFZ] and [H+], their orders were fractional-first and fractional-second, respectively. The rate of oxidation of SFZ in H2SO4 was discovered to be higher than that observed in HClO4. The oxidation rates were not influenced by the change in ionic strength (I) or dielectric constant (D). Addition of Cr(III) had not remarked effect on the rates. Free radical intervention tests were positive. The activation quantities were calculated then discussed. A conceivable mechanism of oxidation was anticipated. Furthermore, the rate-law expressions were also derived.