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The integrated electrocoagulation-assisted adsorption (ECA) system with a solar photovoltaic power supply has gained more attention as an effective approach for reduction chemical oxygen demand (COD) from pharmaceutical wastewater (PhWW). In this research, the ECA system was used for the treatment of PhWW. Several operating parameters were investigated, including electrode number, configuration, distance, operating time, current density, adsorption time, and temperature. A current density of 6.656 mA/cm 2 , six electrodes, a 20-min time, a 4 cm distance, an MP-P configuration, and a 45 °C temperature produced the maximum COD reductions, where the operating cost of conventional energy was 0.273 $/m 3 . The EC, adsorption, and combination of EC and adsorption processes achieved efficient COD reductions of 85.4, 69.1, and 95.5%, respectively. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Freundlich isotherm fit the data of the endothermic adsorption process. Therefore, it was found that the combination processes were superior to the use of these processes in isolation to remove COD. Graphical abstract

Presence of emerging contaminants such as pharmaceutical products in aquatic environments has received high concern due to their undesirable effect on wildlife and human health. Current work deals with developing a treatment model based on the electro- Fenton (EF) process for efficient removal of metformin (MET) from an aqueous medium. The obtained experimental results revealed that over the reaction time of 10 min and solution pH of 3, the maximum removal efficiency of 98.57% is achieved where the value of MET initial concentration, current density, and H2O2 dosage is set at 10 mg.L−1, 6 mA.cm−2, and 250 μL.L−1, respectively, which is in satisfactory agreement with the predicted removal efficiency of 98.6% with the desirability of 0.99. The presence of radical scavengers throughout the mineralization of MET under the EF process revealed that the generation of •OH radicals, as the main oxidative species, controlled the degradation mechanism. The obtained kinetics data best fitted to the first order kinetic model with the rate constant of 0.4224 min−1 (R2 = 0.9940). The developed treatment process under response surface methodology (RSM) was employed for modeling the obtained experimental data and successfully applied for efficient removal of the MET contaminant from pharmaceutical wastewater as an adequate and cost-effective approach.

The study focused on the efficacious performance of bimetallic Fe-Zn loaded 3A zeolite in catalytic ozonation for the degradation of highly toxic veterinary antibiotic enrofloxacin in wastewater of the pharmaceutical industry. Batch experiments were conducted in a glass reactor containing a submerged pump holding catalyst pellets at suction. The submerged pump provided the agitation and recirculation across the solution for effective contact with the catalyst. The effect of ozone flow (0.8–1.55 mg/min) and catalyst dose (5–15 g/L) on the enrofloxacin degradation and removal of other conventional pollutants COD, BOD 5 , turbidity was studied. In batch experiments, 10 g of Fe-Zn 3A zeolite efficiently removed 92% of enrofloxacin, 77% of COD, 69% BOD 5 , and 61% turbidity in 1 L sample of pharmaceutical wastewater in 30 min at 1.1 mg/min of O 3 flow. The catalytic performance of Fe-Zn 3A zeolite notably exceeded the removal efficiencies of 52%, 51%, 52%, and 59% for enrofloxacin, COD, BOD 5 , and turbidity, respectively, achieved with single ozonation process. Furthermore, an increase in the biodegradability of treated pharmaceutical industrial wastewater was observed and made biodegradable easily for subsequent treatment.

In this study, we synthesized recyclable Fe 3 O 4 -functionalized MIL101(Fe) chitosan composite beads for the removal of tetracycline (TC), doxycycline (DC) and ciprofloxacin (CFX) antibiotics from aqueous streams. More than 99% removal efficiency for each antibiotic was achieved at optimum pH, dosage, concentration and contact time. Langmuir adsorption isotherms and pseudo-second-ord er kinetic model were suitable with correlation coefficient values close to 1 for all the antibiotics. Adsorption capacities of 45.33, 33.20 and 31.30 mg g −1 for TC, DC and CFX, respectively, were reported by the synthesized Fe 3 O 4 -functionalized MIL101(Fe) chitosan composite beads. The Fe 3 O 4 -functionalized MIL101(Fe) chitosan composite beads were also tested for their regeneration ability, and a remarkable regeneration ability over up to 5 cycles was observed. The adsorption of TC, DC and CFX on the surface of Fe 3 O 4 -functionalized MIL101(Fe) chitosan composite beads was governed by the π-π interaction, H-bonding and electrostatic interaction between the antibiotics and adsorbent due to protonation, deprotonation and cation exchange in the aqueous solution. These results showed a good prospect for applying the reported beads towards removing antibiotics from pharmaceutical industry wastewater.

This study investigated the adsorption of Oxytetracycline (OTC) from pharmaceutical wastewater using a kappa carrageenan based hydrogel (KPB). The aim of the present study was to explore the potential of KPB for long-term pharmaceutical wastewater treatment. A sustainable adsorbent was developed to address oxytetracycline (OTC) contamination. The hydrogel’s structural and adsorption characteristics were examined using various techniques like Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and kinetic models. The results revealed considerable changes in the vibrational modes and adsorption bands of the hydrogel, suggesting the effective functionalization of Bentonite nano-clay. Kappa carrageenan based hydrogel achieved the maximum removal (98.5%) of OTC at concerntration of 40 mg/L, pH 8, cotact time of 140 min and adsorbent dose of 0.1 g (KPB-3). Adsorption of OTC increased up to 99% with increasing initial concentrations. The study achieved 95% adsorption capacity for OTC using a KPB film at a concentration of 20 mg/L and a 0.1 g adsorbent dose within 60 min. It also revealed that chemisorptions processes outperform physical adsorption. The Pseudo-Second-Order model, which emphasized the importance of chemical adsorption in the removal process, is better suited to represent the adsorption behavior. Excellent matches were found that R 2  = 0.99 for KPB-3, R 2  = 0.984 for KPB-2 and R 2  = 0.989 for KPB-1 indicated strong chemical bonding interactions. Statisctical analysis (ANOVA) was performed using SPSS (version 25) and it was found that pH and concentration had significant influence on OTC adsorption by the hydrogel, with p-values less than 0.05. The study identified that a Kappa carrageenan-based hydrogel with bentonite nano-clay and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) can efficiently remove OTC from pharmaceutical effluent, with a p-value of 0.054, but weak positive linear associations with pH, temperature, and contact time. This research contributed to sustainable wastewater treatment and environmental engineering.

In this study, TiO 2 nanoparticles were employed as a photocatalyst for the degradation of tetracycline (TC) under visible light irradiation. The TiO 2 nanoparticles were decorated on natural pyrite (TiO 2 /NP) and characterized using XRD, FTIR, and SEM–EDX methods. This study evaluated the impacts of various operational parameters such as pH, catalyst dosage, initial TC concentration, and light intensity on TC removal. The findings revealed that under optimal conditions (pH 7, catalyst: 2 g/L, TC: 30 mg/L, and light intensity: 60 mW/cm 2 ), 100% of TC and 84% of TOC were removed within 180 min. The kinetics of TC elimination followed a first-order model. The dominant oxidation species involved in the photocatalytic elimination of TC was found to be · OH radicals in the TiO 2 /NP system. The reuse experiments showed the high capability of the catalyst after four consecutive cycles. This study confirmed that the TiO 2 /NP system has high performance in photocatalytic TC removal under optimized experimental conditions.

In recent years industrialization has caused magnificent leaps in the high profitable growth of pharmaceutical industries, and simultaneously given rise to environmental pollution. Pharmaceutical processes like extraction, purification, formulation, etc., generate a large volume of wastewater that contains high chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand, auxiliary chemicals, and different pharmaceutical substances or their metabolites in their active or inactive form. Its metabolites impart non-biodegradable toxic pollutants as a byproduct and intense color, which increases ecotoxicity into the water, thus this requires proper treatment before being discharged. This study focuses on the feasibility analysis of the utilization of ultrasound cavitation (20 kHz frequency) together with a persulfate oxidation approach for the treatment of complex pharmaceutical effluent. Process parameters like pH, amplitude intensity, oxidant dosage were optimized for COD removal applying response surface methodology-based Box–Behnken design. The optimum value observed for pH, amplitude intensity and oxidant dosage are 5, 20% and 100 mg/L respectively with 39.5% removal of COD in 60 min of fixed processing time. This study confirms that a combination of ultrasound cavitation and persulfate is a viable option for the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater and can be used as an intensification technology in existing effluent treatment plants to achieve the highest amount of COD removal.

The combination of the chemical coagulation-assisted electrocoagulation (CC-EC) process with a solar photovoltaic energy source has attracted increasing attention for the efficient removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from pharmaceutical wastewater. In this paper, the CC-EC process has been utilized as an alternative to conventional chemical processes for the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater. The effects of the various operating parameters, such as coagulant dosage, coagulant type, number of electrodes, the distance between electrodes, electrode configuration, operating time, and current density, on COD removal efficiency were investigated. The results indicated that the optimum conditions were achieved at 500 mg/L of alum dosage, 3.105 mA/cm2 of current density, six electrodes with a distance of 4 cm between electrodes, and the MP-S electrode configuration, where the operating cost of conventional energy was 0.283 $/m3. Indeed, by using the CC process alone, the COD removal efficiency was 26% and 61.5% at the optimal dosages of 750 mg/L of NaOH and 500 mg/L of alum, respectively. In the CC-EC treatment, the removal efficiencies of COD were 88.7, 92.9, 94.4, and 89.4% using six electrodes, 2 cm of distance between electrodes, MP-S electrode configuration, and 20 min with 1.553 mA/cm2 of current density, respectively. The removal efficiencies of COD achieved through CC, EC, and CC-EC processes were 61.5, 85.4, and 94.4%, respectively.

Sewage sludge (SS) and raw pharmaceutical wastewater (RPW) are both toxic and harmful wastes, which are a menace to human and animal health and the ecosystem. A sludge-base micro-electrolysis filler (SMEF) was gained by SS and Fe powder as the primary raw materials. The preparation process of the SMEF was achieved based on the tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) removal efficiency. The physicochemical characteristics (e.g., surface area, morphology features, function groups, and valence state of Fe) of the obtained SMEF were decided. With an Fe/SS ratio of 1/2, a sintering temperature of 1050 °C, a sintering time of 30 min, an initial pH of 3, and a filler dosage of 100 g/L, the SMEF demonstrated a high degradation ability for TCH with a removal rate reached 95.62% in 24 h. Kinetic analysis showed that the adsorption process of TCH was consistent with the pseudo-first-order Lagergren kinetic model. Moreover, degradation mechanism analysis showed that TCH was gradually degraded through dehydroxylation, demethylation, ring opening, oxidation, and reduction in solution. The SMEF had a good continuous removal performance for contaminants in RPW in an up-flow aerated filter. The removal efficiency of TOC and TN reached 46.60 and 42.27% within 24 h, respectively. The treated pharmaceutical wastewater was considered non-biotoxic after 24-h treatment with the SMEF. This study presents a innovative Fe–C micro-electrolysis filler based on SS and is important to the environmental-friendly recycling of SS and sustainable treatment of RPW, achieving the purpose of waste disposal.

Eco-friendly stannic oxide nanoparticles functionalized with gallic acid (SnO 2 /GA NP) were synthesized and employed as a novel photocatalyst for the degradation of citalopram, a commonly prescribed antidepressant drug. SnO 2 /GA NP were characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller measurements and X-ray diffraction. A validated RP-HPLC assay was developed to monitor citalopram concentration in the presence of its degradation products. Full factorial design (2 4 ) was conducted to investigate the effect of irradiation time, pH, SnO 2 /GA NP loading and initial citalopram concentration on the efficiency of the photodegradation process. Citalopram initial concentration was found to be the most significant parameter followed by irradiation time and pH, respectively. At optimum conditions, 88.43 ± 0.7% degradation of citalopram (25.00 µg/mL) was obtained in 1 h using UV light (1.01 mW/cm 2 ). Citalopram kinetics of degradation followed pseudo-first order rate with K obs and t 0.5 of − 0.037 min −1 and 18.73 min, respectively. The optimized protocol was successfully applied for treatment of water samples collected during different cleaning validation cycles of citalopram production lines. The reusability of SnO 2 /GA NP was studied for 3 cycles without significant loss in activity. This approach would provide a green and economic alternative for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment of organic pollutants. Graphical abstract