Background and purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of zinc oxidenanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in combination with US-H₂O₂ advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for the removal of antibiotic amoxicillin (AMO) from aquatic environment.
Materials and Methods: This experimental study was conducted in a batch reactor system. The effect of the parameters, such as pH (3-8), the dose of nanoparticles (0.01-0.08 g/L), reaction time (10-100 min), the initial concentration of the AMO (150-250 mg/L) and H₂O₂ (0.1 – 5Mol/L) on the removal efficiency were studied in ultrasonic reactor. The residual AMO concentrations were measured at 190 nm using a UV/Vis spectrophotometer.
Results: The results showed that the US-H₂O₂ advanced oxidation processes using ZnO NPs can effectively lead to the removal of AMO from the wastewater. The optimal conditions for this process were pH 3, 0.1 M of H₂O₂ and the dose ZnO NPs 0.05 g/L and time of 60 minutes. In the current study, it was found that the removal efficiency dropped with the increasing concentrations of AMO. Under optimal conditions with 150 mg/L of AMO and contact time of 60 min, the efficiency removal was also equal to 92.47%.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that AOP was a very effective method that can be used for the removal of AMO antibiotic from aqueous solutions.