A review of methods for the removal of penicillins from water

Penicillins (PENs) are beta-lactam antibiotics with significant environmental toxicology. This review aimed to synthesise the research efforts on the removal of PENs via a variety of separation, degradation and biological processes. It was observed that isotropic microporous microfiltration membranes are not effective for rejecting PENs, due to their large uniform pore size distribution. Researchers favoured the application of Nanofiltration membrane and adsorption as separation technologies. Carbon-based adsorbents were the most efficient class of adsorbents for PENs removal from water. Lewis acid-base interactions, hydrogen bonding, electrostatic attraction and pi - pi interactions were the main adsorption mechanisms. Generally, the ultraviolet irradiation assisted-advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and the Fenton-like processes outperformed the electrochemical and ultrasonic assisted-AOPs for PENs degradation. AOPs must be incorporated with other methods of treatment to minimise potential costs in terms of energy, time, equipment, and chemicals. For biological processes for PENs removal, anaerobic treatment processes were observe2d to be more efficient for the removal of PENs than aerobic processes. With the exception of microfiltration and electrocoagulation, most other processes were found to be effective for the removal of PENs from water, albeit with some disadvantages. From the review, it can be surmised that there has been great research progress on the subject and many new findings have been obtained in recent times though there is still much work to be done.

Automated summary

This review highlights the effectiveness of carbon-based adsorbents in removing Penicillins (PENs) from water, with mechanisms such as hydrogen bonding, electrostatic attraction, and pi - pi interactions playing a significant role in the adsorption process. UV irradiation assisted-advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and Fenton-like processes demonstrated superior performance in the degradation of PENs.