Obayomi Kehinde Shola, Xie Zongli, Gray Stephen R, Zhang Jianhua
Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities, Victoria University, Werribee, VIC 3030, Australia.
Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sde-Boker Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 8499000, Israel.
Materials (Basel). 2025 May 6;18(9):2134. doi: 10.3390/ma18092134.
To tackle the pollution of tetracycline (TC) in aqueous environments, a few treatment methods, including ozonation, adsorption, and photocatalytic degradation, were compared using a novel and sustainable granular activated carbon-based zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO@GAC) composite. The results demonstrate that the ZnO@GAC composite towards TC exhibited a high removal efficiency of 82.1% in a batch adsorption system. Moreover, the photocatalytic TC degradation study on ZnO@GAC under UV light yields a maximum degradation efficiency of 86.4% with a pseudo-first-order rate constant value of 0.0059 min. Ozonation treatment resulted in TC and total organic carbon (TOC) removal reaching a maximum of 95.3% and 79.7% for 4 mg O/min and 99.6% and 86.6% for 16 mg O/min after 10 min. Overall, in comparing the adsorption, photocatalysis, and ozonation techniques, in terms of removal efficiency and time, ozonation was found to be more promising for treating TC, while in terms of cost-effectiveness, the adsorption process is preferable. Finally, the application of the developed composite in municipal and hospital wastewater using adsorption, photocatalytic degradation, and ozonation techniques revealed that the TOC removal efficiencies were higher for hospital wastewater than municipal wastewater. Furthermore, the applicability of these techniques in treating hospital wastewater containing pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, fungicides, and antimicrobial pollutants shows an outstanding result after treatment. In conclusion, the technologies studied in this research can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of wastewater treatment applications, providing a sustainable, cost-effective, and eco-friendly solution.
为解决水环境中四环素（TC）的污染问题，使用新型可持续的基于颗粒活性炭的氧化锌纳米颗粒（ZnO@GAC）复合材料，比较了包括臭氧化、吸附和光催化降解在内的几种处理方法。结果表明，在间歇吸附系统中，ZnO@GAC复合材料对TC的去除效率高达82.1%。此外，在紫外光下对ZnO@GAC进行光催化TC降解研究，其最大降解效率为86.4%，伪一级速率常数为0.0059 min⁻¹。臭氧化处理10分钟后，对于4 mg O/min，TC和总有机碳（TOC）的去除率分别达到最大值95.3%和79.7%；对于16 mg O/min，分别达到99.6%和86.6%。总体而言，在比较吸附、光催化和臭氧化技术时，从去除效率和时间来看，臭氧化在处理TC方面更具前景，而从成本效益来看，吸附过程更可取。最后，使用吸附、光催化降解和臭氧化技术将所开发的复合材料应用于城市和医院废水，结果表明医院废水的TOC去除效率高于城市废水。此外，这些技术在处理含有药物、抗生素、杀菌剂和抗菌污染物的医院废水方面的适用性在处理后显示出优异的效果。总之，本研究中所研究的技术可以显著提高废水处理应用的效率和效果，提供一种可持续、具有成本效益且环保的解决方案。
