Background
Excessive use of antibiotics and their disposal into the environment poses a serious threat to public health (1). Penicillin G (PG) injection is used to treat and prevent a wide range of infections caused by bacteria, and pH-heat sensitivity has been reported for this
beta-lactam antibiotic (2). It spontaneously dissolves in water, as well as isotonic sodium chloride and dextrose solutions (3, 4). Different methods, including electrolysis (5, 6), adsorption (7, 8), oxidation (9), biodegradation (10), and dissolved air flotation (1, 2), are used to remove PG from contaminated water. The adsorption process has an extensive application in industries for the elimination of organic pollutants (11). Granular activated carbons
are widely utilized adsorbing materials; nonetheless, they are hardly regenerated (12). Nanoparticles (NPs) are tiny materials sized within 1-100 nanometers (nm). Today NPs have a widespread application in various industries and professions, including textiles, paint, and diagnosis of diseases. Therefore, the research focus has now shifted towards nanotechnology and its development. NPs can be perfused into the polluted environment by pressure and/or under gravity owing to their very small size. Moreover, they remain in the solution as a suspension under certain conditions for a long time and flow through the water to have enough opportunity to decontaminate the pollutant (13).
Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) are used as a catalyst with high efficiency due to their high efficiency and quantum size effect (7). The present study aimed to assess the efficiency of CuO-NPs in the removal of PG from aqueous solution. To determine the optimum conditions, the effects of operational factors: the adsorbent (CuO-NPs ) dosage, contact time, as well as pH and initial concentration of PG were examined. On a final note, the kinetic adsorption models were utilized to fit the experimental data.
Materials & Methods |
The cupric oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) obtained from Sigma Company has the following characteristics: size: 15-20 nm and purity: 99%. Penicillin G (PG) with a molecular weight of 372.48 g/mol, purity higher than 99%, and molecular formulae of C16H17KN2O4S was provided by Sigma-Aldrich. Different PG concentrations used for the study were prepared from a 1000 mg/L stock solution using distilled water. The structure of PG is displayed in Figure 1.