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Phenolic compounds are among the priority pollutants due to their adverse effects on human health and other living organisms. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) offer promising prospects for the removal of pollutants in water and wastewater due to their high efficiency as well as acceptable health and environmental effects. Persulfate, especially when used with iron, is far stronger than many other oxidants with respect to oxidation properties since it produces sulfate radicals which create a higher oxidation potential. In this research, efforts have been made to achieve the best conditions for phenol removal from aqueous environments by activating persulfate with iron ions. The experimental design was accomplished using the Taguchi statistical method and the Minitab 16 software. For the purposes of this study, four factors, each with five levels, were considered to determine the optimal conditions for phenol removal. The optimum conditions for phenol removal by integrated persulfate/iron ions were found to comprise a contact time of 120 minutes, a persulfate/iron molar ratio of 5/4, and PH=3. Phenol removal efficiencies of 94.93%±0.708 and 58.21%±0.675 were obtained under the optimum conditions for the experimental minimum (50 mg/l) and maximum (750 mg/l) phenol concentrations, respectively. The results revealed that among the parameters affecting the process, environmental pH with 54.80% and persulfate concentration with 11.05% have the highest and lowest effects, respectively. It is expected that this process is also capable of removing phenol from industrial wastewaters with removal efficiencies in the range of 59‒95%.

A major concern about pharmaceutical pollution is the presence of antibiotics in water resources through their release into sewers where they cause bacterial resistance and enhanced drug-resistance in human-borne pathogens and growing microbial populations in the environment. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficiency of the advanced H2O2/ZnO oxidation process in removing ceftriaxone from aqueous solutions. For this purpose, an experimental study was conducted in which the SEM, XRD, and TEM techniques were employed to determine the size of Zinc oxide nano-particles. Additionally, the oxidation process parameters of pH (3-11), molar ratio of H2O2/ZnO (1.5-3), initial concentration of ceftriaxone (5–15 mg/L), and contact time (30-90 min) were investigated. Teh data thus obntained were subjected top statistical analysis using the SPSS (ANOVA test). XRD results revealeda hexagonal crystal structure for the nano-ZnO. TEM images confirmed the spherical shape of the nanoparticles. Finally, SEM images revealed that the Zn nanoparticles used in this study were less than 30 nanometers in diameter. Based on the results, an optimum pH of 11, a contact time of 90 minutes, and a H2O2/ZnO molar ratio equal to 1.5 were the optimum conditions to achieve a ceftriaxone removal efficiency of 92%. The advance H2O2/ZnO oxidation process may thus be claimed to be highly capable of removing ceftriaxone from aqueous solutions.

The presence of persistent organic pollutants and toxics (e.g., pesticides) in ground, surface, and drinking water resources combined with the inability of conventional treatment methods to remove these pollutants have led to the development of advanced oxidation processes. Nowadays, nanophotocatalyst processes are considered as clean and environmentally-friendly treatment methods that can be extensively used for removing contaminants. The objective of the present study was to determine the efficiency of the ultraviolet and zinc oxide (UV/ZnO) process in the removal of diazinon pesticide from aqueous solutions. For the purposes of this study, samples were adjusted in a batch reactor at five different detention times. The pH levels used were 3, 7, and 9. Irradiation was performed using a 125 W medium-pressure mercury lamp. The diazinon concentrations of the samples were 100 and 500 µg/L and the concentrations of zinc oxide nanoparticles were 50, 100, and 150 mg/L. The highest degradation efficiency was observed at pH 7 (mean = 80.92 30.3), while the lowest was observed for pH 3 (mean 67.11 24.49). Results showed that the optimal concentration of nanoparticles (6-12 nm) was 100 mg L-1.