Application of Photocatalytic Process Using UV/TiO2 for Degradation of Cefepime: A Comparison between Photocatalytic and Photolytic

Abstract

Cephalosporin is a group of β-lactam antibiotics that has a wide antibacterial ability, so its therapeutic use is high. Although much research has been conducted about the fate of antibiotics in an aquatic environment, little investigation has been done about the removal of cephalosporin. In this study, Cefepime, a fourth-generation cephalosporin antibiotic was selected and different tests such as UV/TiO2, UV, TiO2 under darkness, and TiO2 under sunlight were applied to determine whether these methods are effective ways to remove Cefepime from aqueous solutions or not. Different amounts of catalyst and different pHs were used as effective parameters on degradation efficiency and were optimized. The Cefepime removal was measured by HPLC. The mobile phase was comprised of 10:90 Acetonitrile: water with a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The detected wavelength was 212 nm. Maximum removal efficiency (92.9%) for 20 mg/L Cefepime in neutral pH and catalyst dose of 70 mg/L after 120 min irradiation was observed. At the same conditions, the degradation efficiencies for UV, TiO2 under sunlight, and TiO2 under darkness were determined 77.65%, 53.24%, and 15.12% respectively. Also, the reaction rate constant was increased from 0.0054 to 0.0279 (1/min) for photolysis and photocatalysis, respectively. This work was economically compared with photolysis and the result showed that the EEO for the UV/TiO2 process was five times lower than UV processes.UV/TiO2 process could be an efficient method to successfully remove the Cefepime antibiotic from aqueous solutions.

Keywords

• cefepime
• hplc
• photolysis
• photocatalysis
• titanium dioxide