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Sonocatalytic performance of pyrite nanoparticles was evaluated by the degradation of sulfasalazine (SSZ). Pyrite nanoparticles were produced via a high energy mechanical ball milling (MBM) in different processing time from 2h to 6h, in the constant milling speed of 320rpm. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) confirmed the production of pyrite nanoparticles during 6h of ball milling with the average size distribution of 20-80nm. The effects of various operational parameters including pH value, catalyst amount (mg/L), SSZ concentration (mg/L), ultrasonic frequency (kHz) and reaction time on the SSZ removal efficiency were examined. The obtained results showed that the maximum removal efficiency of 97.00% was obtained at pH value of 4, catalyst dosage of 0.5g/L, SSZ concentration of 10mg/L and reaction time of 30min. Experimental results demonstrated that the kinetic of the degradation process can be demonstrated using Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) kinetic model. The effect of different inorganic ions such as Cl, CO and SO was investigated on the L-H reaction rate (k) and adsorption (K) constants. Results showed that the presence of the mentioned ions significantly influenced the L-H constants. The impact of ethanol as a OH radical scavenger and some enhancers including HO and KSO was investigated on the SSZ removal efficiency. Accordingly, the presence of ethanol suppressed SSZ degradation due to the quenching of OH radicals and the addition of KSO and HO increased the SSZ removal efficiency, due to the formation of SO and additional OH radicals, respectively. Under the identical conditions of operating parameters, pyrite nanoparticles maintained their catalytic activity during four consecutive runs.

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