Thin-film fixed-bed photocatalytic reactor with immobilized copper oxide nanoparticles for degradation of amoxicillin

Copper oxide nanoparticles have been proved to be efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts, but the difficulty in separating them from treated water after the treatment process limits their usage. In this regard, a thin-film fixed-bed reactor was designed by developing CuO thin film. The performance of the designed reactor and photocatalytic activity of the CuO thin film was examined by degrading amoxicillin (AMX) under sunlight irradiation. The influence of operational factors including the initial AMX concentration, pH, and time of irradiation on photocatalytic degradation efficiency was studied using a statistical approach. The developed reactor indicated promising efficiency of about ۸۹% for the degradation of a high concentration of AMX within ۸۰ min. The obtained results of this work can be helpful to the assessment of the fixed bed photocatalytic reactors before their application for large-scale wastewater treatment processes

Keywords:

CuO Thin-film , photocatalyst , fixed-bed photocatalytic reactor , amoxicillin