Solar-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Pharmaceutical Wastewater using ZnO Nanoparticles
The increasing discharge of pharmaceutical residues into aquatic environments poses a serious environmental threat due to their persistence and resistance to conventional wastewater treatment processes. In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were synthesized via a simple precipitation method and applied as an efficient photocatalyst for the degradation and mineralization of paracetamol under UV irradiation (365 nm) and natural solar irradiation. The structural, optical, and crystalline properties were confirmed using Ultraviolet–Visible Spectrophotometer, Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and X-ray Diffraction analyses, revealing high crystallinity and nanoscale features with an average crystallite size ranging between 32.4 and 36.4 nm, which directly facilitated the surface-driven photocatalytic pathway. The results demonstrated that the synthesized ZnO NPs achieved 100% degradation of 10 mg/L paracetamol within 60 min under optimized solar irradiation conditions (pH 11, 2.5 g/L catalyst dose, 600 rpm stirring speed at room temperature). Furthermore, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) analysis confirmed complete mineralization of organic content, reducing the initial COD of real wastewater from 21,780 mg/L to 0.5 mg/L, achieving a 99.99% removal efficiency while High Performance Liquid Chromatography results verified the fully degraded parent compound. A major strength of this study is the utilization of both paracetamol and real pharmaceutical industrial wastewater, which enhances the environmental relevance and practical applicability of the proposed treatment system. The study highlights ZnO NPs as a highly efficient, low-cost, and sustainable photocatalyst for solar-driven wastewater treatment applications, with strong potential for large-scale environmental remediation.
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