Investigating the efficiency of Photo-Fenton (UV/H2O2/Fe2+) in removing the indomethacin antibiotic from aqueous solutions

Abstract

Water pollution caused by antibiotics is one of the major challenges in the world today. The current research aims to investigate the effect of the Photo-Fenton process in removing indomethacin antibiotics from aqueous solutions. This experiment-based study was conducted on a laboratory scale and discontinuous manner. The influential variables affecting the removal efficiency of indomethacin include initial antibiotic concentration, pH, time, hydrogen peroxide concentration, and iron ion. The study was conducted base on standard methods (APHA, AWWA, CFWP, 2005). The Design Expert software was used to analyze the effect of independent variables on the removal efficiency of indomethacin antibiotics in the Photo-Fenton process (UV/H2O2/Fe2+) using response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design (CCD). To ensure the repeatability of the results, each experiment was repeated three times and the reported the average. The results showed that the optimal removal conditions for indomethacin antibiotics were pH = 4, H2O2 oxidant concentration = 50 ppm, Fe2+catalyst concentration = 50 ppm, time = 75 minutes, and initial antibiotic concentration = 20 ppm, with a removal efficiency of 91.03%. The variables of initial antibiotic concentration, H2O2 concentration, and pH had the greatest impact on the removal efficiency of indomethacin. The results of this study indicate that under optimal conditions, more than 90% of indomethacin antibiotics can be removed from aqueous solutions using the Photo-Fenton process, which is a significant result for removing this pharmaceutical pollutant from aquatic environments.