Elimination of amoxicillin using zeolite Y-sea salt as a good catalyst for activation of hydrogen peroxide: Investigating degradation pathway and the effect of wastewater chemistry

The sea contains elements that can play a useful role in catalyzing reactions. Therefore, this research was done to focus on eliminating amoxicillin (AMX) from wastewater utilizing zeolite Y- sea salt catalyst in the presence of H2O2. The influences of furnace temperature (200-500 degrees C) and time duration in the furnace (1-4 h) were optimized during catalyst generation. Also, the effects of different parameters on AMX removal, such as pH (5.0-9.0), catalyst dose (0-10 g.L 1), AMX concentration (50-300 mg.L 1), contact time (10-130 min), and H2O2 concentration (0-6 mL/100 mL distilled water) were investigated. Different analyses like BrunauerEmmett-Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were conducted to reveal catalyst properties. The BET-specific surface area of the catalyst (12.69 m(2)g (-1)) insignificantly (p-value > 0.05) changed after AMX removal (13.04 m(2)g (-1)), indicating the strength of the prepared catalyst. The active groups of N-H, O-H-O, O-Si-O, C-H, Si-O-Si, and Si-O-Al were determined in the catalyst structure. The highest removal of AMX (93%) was achieved in the zeolite-sea salt/H2O2 system at a pH level of 6.0 and an H2O2 concentration of 0.1 mL/100 mL. Elimination of the AMX followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. The catalyst was reclaimed up to 7 times and the removal efficiency was suitable up to the fifth stage. The by-products and reaction pathways were investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed that zeolite-sea salt can be utilized as an H2O2 activator for the effective degradation of AMX from wastewater.

Automated summary

This study successfully utilized zeolite Y-sea salt catalyst to remove amoxicillin (AMX) from wastewater, achieving a maximum removal rate of 93% after optimizing parameters. The catalyst showed good stability after AMX removal and was suitable for repeated reuse.