Sonochemical degradation of azithromycin in aqueous solution

The presence of pharmaceutical substances and their residual in water resources isan important environmental concern. Azithromycin, an antibiotic that is used for the treatment ofinfectious diseases, is a pollutant agent in the wastewater. The aim of this study was to investigateazithromycin degradation in aqueous solution through ultrasonic process in the presence of zinc oxidenanoparticles as catalysts.Methods: Sonocatalytic experiments were performed at variable conditions including pH (3-8), temperature (20-60°C), time (3-21 minutes), catalyst dosage (0.25-2 g/L), hydrogen peroxideconcentration (15-100 mg/L) and initial azithromycin concentration (10-100 mg/L).Results: The optimum values for pH (3), temperature (40°C), time (15 minutes), catalyst dosage (1 g/L),H2O2 concentration (50 mg/L) and initial azithromycin concentration (20 mg/L) were determined. Thehighest degradation efficiency of 98.4% was achieved after 15 minutes of ultrasonic irradiation underoptimum condition.Conclusion: According to the results, ultrasonic irradiation is able to degrade azithromycin. In addition,ZnO and hydroxyl radical can successfully accelerate the reaction process in the shortest possible time.