Effective Removal of Levofloxacin from Pharmaceutical Wastewater Using Synthesized Zinc Oxid, Graphen Oxid Nanoparticles Compared with their Combination

Abstract

The presence of antibiotic traces in the aquatic system due to the inefficient treatment of the pharmaceutical wastewater represented threats, such as bioaccumulation and antibiotic-resistance, to the environment and human health. Accordingly, for the first time, the current work utilized the photocatalytic degradation and the adsorption approach for Levofloxacin (LEVO) in pharmaceutical wastewater using new designed nano aspects. Therefore, spherical Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONP) sized 17 nm and ultrathin sheet-like structure graphene oxide nanosheets (GONS) with layer thickness ~5 nm were fabricated separately or in a combination between them then characterized via Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transforms Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), absorption spectra (UV-Vis) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). Additionally, several parameters were investigated to evaluate the potential of the removal process, such as pH, the exposure time to UV radiation, the type and concentration of the nanoparticles (NPs) and the initial concentration of the drug using a mixed fractional factorial design. The most effective parameter for LEVO removal was the NPs type followed by the initial drug concentration. Furthermore, an RP-HPLC/UV method was developed and validated for measuring the percentage of removal for LEVO drug. The highest percentage removal for both 50 and 400 µg mL −1 LEVO was 99.2% and 99.6%, respectively, which was achieved using ZnONP/GONS combination at pH 9 ± 0.05 and UV light exposure time 120 min. In addition, the negative antibacterial activity of the treated wastewater sample confirmed the drug removal. The established protocol was successfully applied on wastewater samples collected from a pharmaceutical company that encouraged researchers to mainstream this design to be applied on other pharmaceutical wastewater drugs.

Nanoraspberry‐like palladium/spongy nickel oxide for electrooxidation of five light fuels

“…The surface area of spongy oxide was valued with the usage of BET test as 37.82 m 2 .g −1 . This value is significantly higher than surface area of some oxides, such as ZnO nanoparticle with 27 m 2 .g −1 , 39 WO 3 with 30.77 m 2 .g −1 , 40 and Fe 2 O 3 with 2.5 m 2 .g −1 41 . Therefore, NiO with a spongy structure (Figure 2A, B) produced the affected excellent surface area, which gives proper promoter for Pd particles as the critical component in the electrocatalyst matrix.…”

Arabic Gum-Grafted-Hydrolyzed Polyacrylonitrile@ZnFe2O4 as a Magnetic Adsorbent for Remediation of Levofloxacin Antibiotic from Aqueous Solutions

“…It not only uses fewer chemicals and solvents but also has a wider range of concentrations, making it a lot more efficient and an environmentally friendly solution. Thus, a variety of micro/nanostructures were considered suitable adsorbents for the efficient removal of levofloxacin residuals from water, as either single phases or composites. − Biopolymer-based composites have lately been employed often as an environmentally benign adsorbent to remove water pollutants due to their biodegradability, availability, fair cost, and low toxicity to biological systems. , Tragacanth gum, ghatti gum, xanthan gum, karaya gum, and guar gum have all been employed in the fabrication of natural polymer hydrogels. These natural polymers could capture contaminants effectively in a three-dimensional (3D) network.…”

Biotransformation of the Fluoroquinolone, Levofloxacin, by the White-Rot Fungus Coriolopsis gallica

“…Efforts to transform levofloxacin into non-toxic or less-active compounds have applied various different physicochemical treatments, such as photo-electrocatalysis [41], photocatalysis [42][43][44], chlorination [45], ozonation [46], adsorption [36,47], Fenton reactions and ferrous ion-activated persulfate, and combined Fenton/persulfate systems [30], as well as combinations of methods such as photocatalysis with adsorption [48] and advanced oxidative processes (AOPs) with adsorption [49]. These treatments were found to be highly effective and capable of up to 100% levofloxacin removal.…”