Fotokatalis - heterogen merupakan satu kaedah rawatan air sisa yang terjamin dalam pembersihan air. Kaedah ini telah banyak disiasat oleh penyelidik mengenai kecekapan penyingkirannya ke arah farmaseutikal manusia. Dalam kajian ini, Compound Parabolic Collecting Reactor (CPCR) direka untuk menyediakan satu aliran peredaran yang berterusan untuk air sisa, memastikan kesebatian larutan air sisa dan juga menumpukan cahaya matahari untuk proses rawatan air sisa. 20 L larutan air sisa farmaseutikal sintetik disediakan dengan menokok 19.6 L air suling ke dalam 400 ml larutan panadol pencairan (yang mempunyai kepekatan paracetamol sebanyak 10 mg/L) dan menambah sejumlah titanium dioksida (TiO2, bertindak sebagai pemangkin) seperti yang dinyatakan dalam Experimental Design. Air sisa sintetik yang telah disediakan akan disalurkan ke dalam CPCR untuk menjalankan rawatan fotokatalis - heterogen proses selama enam jam (10.00 am-4.00 pm). Air sisa sintetik yang telah siap dirawat akan disalurkan ke dalam tangki pemendapan. Akhir sekali, supernatan dikumpulkan untuk ujian HPLC dan ujian ICP. Ujian HPLC dijalankan untuk mengenal pasti kepekatan paracetamol, manakala ujian ICP dijalankan untuk mengenal pasti kepekatan TiO2. Merujuk kepada kajian eksperimen, kadar penyingkiran paracetamol pada keadaan: pH 4-7 dan kepekatan TiO2 daripada 0.5-1 g/L adalah sangat tinggi dan hampir sama iaitu dalam lingkungan 97.2% ke 99.7%. Dalam proses pencirian, ciri-ciri yang telah dikenal pasti dalam larutan panadol yang mempunyai kepekatan paracetamol sebanyak 10 mg/L adalah paras pH (pH 6.91) dan tahap kekeruhan (0.34 NTU). Kajian ini telah membuktikan bahawa sistem fotokatalis - heterogen berupaya untuk menghapuskan paracetamol dari air sisa farmaseutikal sintetik.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Heterogeneous photocatalyst has become attractive as a promising wastewater treatment method for water purification. This method has been widely investigated by the researchers about its removal efficiency towards human pharmaceuticals. In this study, Compound Parabolic Collecting Reactor (CPCR) was designed to provide a continuous circulation flow of the wastewater to ensure the well mixed of wastewater solution and increase the sunlight ray for the wastewater treatment process. 20 L of synthetic pharmaceutical wastewater solution was prepared by adding up 19.6 L of distilled water to 400 ml (500 mg/L) of panadol solution (to prepare paracetamol concentration of 10 mg/L) and adding certain amount of titanium dioxide (TiO2, acts as catalyst) according to the experimental design. The synthetic wastewater was channeled into the CPCR to carry out heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation treatment process for six hours (10 am to 4 pm). The treated synthetic wastewater was then channeled into a sedimentation tank. Finally, the supernatant was collected for High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) test and Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) to identify the concentration of paracetamol and TiO2 respectively. Based on the batch experimental studies, the paracetamol removal rates at the conditions: pH 4-7 and TiO2 concentration of 0.5-1 g/L, were very high and nearly equal which ranged from 97.2% to 99.7%. During the characterization process of the prepared wastewater sample (10 mg/L of paracetamol), the pH and turbidity is 6.91 and 0.34 NTU respectively. In summary, the results proved that heterogeneous photocatalyst system is able to eliminate the paracetamol from the synthetic wastewater.
Pharmaceutical removal from synthetic wastewater using heterogeneous – photocatalyst / Lee Chee Mei