UV-A and Solar Photodegradation of Ibuprofen and Carbamazepine Catalyzed by TiO2

The objective of this study was to investigate the efficiency of solar and UV-A photocatalysis with suspended TiO2 to degrade ibuprofen and carbamazepine in aqueous matrices. Emphasis was given on the effect of various operating conditions such as catalyst type (six commercially available titanium oxide samples were tested) and concentration (50-3000 mg/L), initial drug concentration (5-20 mg/L), solution pH (3-10), the addition of hydrogen peroxide (0.07-1.4 mM), and the matrix (pure water and treated domestic wastewater) on degradation and mineralization. The former was assessed monitoring sample absorbance at each drug's characteristic wavelength, while the latter measuring dissolved organic carbon. The best performance was achieved at lower drug concentrations irradiated by UV-A in the presence of Degussa P25 catalyst and hydrogen peroxide in pure water.