Assessing the Performance of Environmentally Friendly-Produced Zerovalent Iron Nanoparticles to Remove Pharmaceuticals from Water

Abstract

Nano zerovalent iron (nZVI), produced from green tea extracts, was incorporated in a cation exchange resin (R-nFe) to investigate its performance regarding the removal of four non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): ibuprofen (IBU), naproxen (NPX), ketoprofen (KTP) and diclofenac (DCF). The effect of contact time, NaCl pretreatment, pH, R-nFe dose, the role of the supporting material, the initial concentration of pollutants, and the combined effect of nZVI with oxidative reagents was assessed through a series of batch experiments. According to the results, the best removal efficiencies obtained for DCF and KTP were 86% and 73%, respectively, at 48 h of contact time with NaCl pretreated R-nFe at a dose of 15 g L−1 and a pH of 4. The maximum removal efficiency for NPX was 90% for a contact time of 60 min with PS 1 mM and a pH of 3, which was quite similar to the experiment with a greater contact time of 48 h without PS addition. The maximum IBU removal was 70%; this was reached at pH 3, with a contact time of 30 min and R-nFe 15 g L−1. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study investigating the utilization of nZVI, produced from leaf extracts and incorporated into a cationic exchange resin, to remove NSAIDs from water.