Use of TiO2 for removing emerging contaminant in water – Amoxicillin as a case study

Abstract

In the recent years, evidence of pharmaceutical contaminant in water having deteriorating effects on various species is well documented. The concentration of these pollutants range from ng/L in surface water to mg/L in pharmaceutical industry effluent. Treatment of highly concentrated pharmaceutical industrial effluent is a feasible option when compared to the treatment of dilute surface water. In this work, treatment of pharmaceutical industry effluent containing critical pharmaceutical contaminants (PC) Amoxcillin employing a photocatalytic system was investigated. Chosen factors include concentrations of contaminants (50 – 100 mg/L), TiO2 dosage (500 – 1000 mg/L) and reaction time (10-30 min). MINITAB software was employed to perform the standard regression analysis and the corresponding second-order polynomial equation was constructed between the chosen response (contaminant removal) and the three factors. Results indicate that studied emerging contaminant removal depends on the dosage of photocatalyst and the time employed in the reactor