Photocatalytic degradation of Metronidazole with illuminated TiO2 nanoparticles.

Metronidazole (MNZ) is a brand of nitroimidazole antibiotic, which is generally used in clinical applications and extensively used for the treatment of infectious diseases caused by anaerobic bacteria and protozoans. The aim of this investigation was to degrade MNZ with illuminated TiO2 nanoparticles at different catalyst dosage, contact time, pH, initial MNZ concentration and lamp intensity. Maximum removal of MNZ was observed at near neutral pH. Removal efficiency was decreased by increasing dosage and initial MNZ concentration. The reaction rate constant (k obs ) was decreased from 0.0513 to 0.0072 min(-1) and the value of electrical energy per order (EEo) was increased from 93.57 to 666.67 (kWh/m(3)) with increasing initial MNZ concentration from 40 to 120 mg/L, respectively. The biodegradability estimated from the BOD5/COD ratio was increased from 0 to 0.098. The photocatalyst demonstrated proper photocatalytic activity even after five successive cycles. Finally, UV/TiO2 is identified as a promising technique for the removal of antibiotic with high efficiency in a relatively short reaction time.