Perovskite Catalytic Ozonation of Some Pharmaceutical Compounds in Water

The ozonation of two pharmaceutical compounds: the drug diclofenac (DCF) and the synthetic hormone 17 alpha-ethynylstradiol (EST), has been studied in laboratory prepared water and domestic wastewater in the presence of perovskite catalysts. In ultrapure water, catalysts do not lead to any improvement on the ozonation rates of DCF and EST which supports the fact that both compounds are removed by direct ozonation. TOC removal, on the other hand, is significantly increased in the presence of perovskite catalysts, especially when copper perovskite is used, with TOC removals in the order of 90% after 120 minutes of reaction. In domestic wastewater the results are similar regarding the mechanism of initial pharmaceutical compounds removal, which are due to direct reactions with ozone that, in this case, develop during longer reaction times likely due to the presence of other contaminants. Then, regarding TOC removal in domestic wastewater, negligible differences between non-catalytic and catalytic ozonation are observed during the first approximately 25 minutes of reaction. For higher reaction time, TOC removal is improved only in the case copper perovskite catalyst is used although percentages of TOC removal are comparatively lower than those reached in ultrapure water (they hardly reach 50% TOC removal). Finally, a kinetic study has been carried out and apparent rate constants of the heterogeneous reaction between ozone and TOC on the catalyst surface have been determined.