Photocatalytic degradation of selected pharmaceuticals using green fabricated zinc oxide nanoparticles

• Published in: Advanced powder technology : the international journal of the Society of Powder Technology, Japan Japan, 2021-07, Vol.32 (7), p.2398-2409
• Main Authors: Mohamed Isa, Eleen Dayana, Shameli, Kamyar, Ch'ng, Hui Jia, Che Jusoh, Nurfatehah Wahyuny, Hazan, Roshasnorlyza
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Drugs; Green synthesis; Photocatalytic; Zinc oxide nanoparticles
• ISSN: 0921-8831; 1568-5527
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apt.2021.05.021

[Display omitted] •Green synthesis of ZnO NPs with biopolymer pullulan as the capping agent.•Dependence of ZnO NPs properties on the amount of zinc salt in presence of pullulan.•Feasibility of drugs degradation using green fabricated ZnO NPs.•Effect of photocatalytic parameters on drugs’ degradation rate. Heterogeneous photocatalysis is one of the popular alternative treatment methods for wastewater. It utilizes semiconductor material as the catalyst and metal oxide such as zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), emerged as the commonly used catalyst. In this study, a series of biogenic ZnO NPs was fabricated through precipitation method with pullulan as the biomaterial. The amount of zinc salt in the presence of pullulan was varied to study its impact on the generated ZnO NPs. The results showed that without pullulan, the average particle size of ZnO NPs obtained was 110.86 nm. With 0.84 M zinc salt in 50 g/L of pullulan, the ZnO NPs average particle size significantly reduced to 58.13 nm. The surface area of all synthesized ZnO NPs ranging from 14.84 to 19.99 m2 g−1. The photocatalytic activities of all synthesized ZnO NPs were evaluated through the photodegradation of two drugs, amoxicillin (AMX) and paracetamol (PCT). Through the comparison of drugs’ photodegradation with all synthesized ZnO NPs, ZnO NPs produced with 0.67 M zinc salt in 50 g/L of pullulan showed the highest degradation percentage of 85.7% and 96.8% for AMX and PCT respectively. The best photodegradation conditions for the drugs were 30 ppm drugs concentration, pH 9 (for AMX) and pH 5 (for PCT) and 50 mg catalyst dosage. Based on these results, biogenic ZnO NPs has high potential to be used in the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater.