An Innovative Sunlight‐Driven Device for Photocatalytic Drugs Degradation: from laboratory‐ to real‐Scale Application. A First Step Toward Vulnerable Communities

Abstract

Freshwater represents one of the most precious resources on the planet, so it is fundamental to preserve it. In this work, an innovative sunlight‐driven device composed of bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) grown on a material derived from natural sources, i.e., Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregates (LECA), is developed to clean surface waters under natural solar light irradiation. For this purpose, the photodegradation of two non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs, ibuprofen, and diclofenac, is investigated under varying operative conditions. Laboratory‐ and real‐scale experiments reveal that the fabricated floating BiOBr/LECA photocatalyst fully degrades diclofenac, whereas limited abatement of ibuprofen is observed. Based on the identification of specific transformation products (TPs) during the degradation, this behavior seems to be strongly related to the different structures of the two drugs. In fact, the main TP produced during diclofenac degradation derives from dechlorination and ring condensation: this type of photocatalytic degradation pathway is generally favored over the C─C bonds's cleavage, which is a unique possibility for IBU abatement. Moreover, the potential partial adsorption of these species on the photocatalyst's active sites can cause their deactivation. Finally, reusability tests demonstrate the high stability of the floating composite.

Assessment of new hydrogen peroxide activators in water and comparison of their active species toward contaminants of emerging concern

“…Water is overall a fragile matrix: it plays an essential role to life but, at the same time water resources are highly susceptible to changes and pressures imposed on the systems that comprise them, be that from climate change or from overconsumption by human activities 1 . Access to high-quality water is often local and intermittent, and constantly threatened by contamination and parochial interests.…”

Photocatalytic Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles in Antibacterial Ultrafiltration Membranes for Biofouling Control

“…In addition to microorganism inactivation, ZnO is capable of degrading other organic substances that may be present in the source water [ 23 ]; thus, the application of photocatalytic filtration membranes is not limited only to biofouling mitigation, but can rather also be implemented as a novel water treatment method, e.g., to degrade drugs or dyes via photocatalysis [ 31 , 32 ] in combination with membrane filtration.…”