Investigation of the Effectiveness of Tetracycline Antibiotic Removal from Aqueous Solutions by Photo-Fenton Process using Biosynthesized Silver Nanoparticles

Tetracycline is an antibiotic that is widely used around the world. Advanced oxidation processes are used for the degradation of resistant organic pollutants in aqueous solutions due to their high oxidation potential. This study aimed to estimate the performance of the ultraviolet rays/hydrogen peroxide/silver nanoparticles (UV/Ag/H2O2) in removing tetracycline antibiotics.

In this study, the degradation of tetracycline by the UV/Ag/H2O2 process was investigated under various conditions. The effects of different parameters, such as silver nanoparticles (1, 2, 4, and 6 mM), hydrogen peroxide concentration (10, 30, 50, 80, and 100 mM), pH (4, 7, and 10), and initial antibiotic concentration (15, 30, 45, and 60 mg/L) were investigated in the degradation of tetracycline. Finally, the antibacterial property of the synthesized nanoparticle was determined.

Under optimal conditions, within 90 min, the efficiency of tetracycline removal reached above 85% following pseudo-first-order kinetics. The obtained optimum conditions were as follows: tetracycline concentration (15 mg/L), oxidant concentration (80 mM), silver catalyst concentration (4 mM), and pH equal to 4. The size and morphological properties of nanoparticles were assessed by TEM, which showed that particles had a spherical shape with a diameter of about 1-50nm. The biosynthesized nanoparticle had high antibacterial properties.

The results of this study showed that green synthesized silver nanoparticles with ultraviolet waves had great catalytic properties for oxidant activation and could also be used to inhibit and destroy resistant bacterial strains