Photocatalytic degradation and drug activity reduction of Chloramphenicol.

The photocatalytic degradation of Chloramphenicol, an antibiotic drug, has been investigated in aqueous heterogeneous solutions containing n-type oxide semiconductors as photocatalysts. The disappearance of the organic molecule follows approximately a pseudo-first-order kinetics according to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. It was observed that, with TiO(2) P-25 as photocatalyst, quantitative degradation of the organic molecule occurs after 4h of illumination. During this time, the dechlorination of the substrate is complete, while the organic nitrogen was recovered in the form of nitrate and ammonium ions. The effect of temperature on the degradation rate of Chloramphenicol shows similar apparent activation energies for both TiO(2) P-25 and ZnO photocatalysts. The initial apparent photonic efficiency (zeta(0)) of the photo-oxidation and the mineralization under various experimental conditions have been calculated, while the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method showed a 100% reduction of the drug activity after 90 min of photocatalytic treatment.