Synthesis of CoFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles for application in photocatalytic removal of azithromycin from wastewater

Abstract

Azithromycin is one of the most widely used antibiotics in medicine prescribed for various infectious diseases such as COVID-19. A significant amount of this drug is always disposed of in hospital effluents. In this study, the removal of azithromycin using Cobalt-Ferrite magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) is investigated in the presence of UV light. For this purpose, magnetic nanoparticles are synthesized and added to the test samples as a catalyst in specific proportions. To determine the structural and morphological properties of nanoparticles, characterization tests including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM), and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) are performed. 27 runs have been implemented based on the design of experiments using the Box-Behnken Design (BBD) method. Parameters are the initial concentration of azithromycin (20–60 mg/L), contact time (30–90 min), pH (6–10), and the dose of magnetic nanoparticles (20–60 mg/L). The obtained model interprets test results with high accuracy (R2 = 0.9531). Also, optimization results by the software show that the contact time of 90 min, MNP dosage of 60 mg/L, pH value of 6.67, and azithromycin initial concentration of 20 mg/L leads to the highest removal efficiency of 89.71%. These numbers are in the range of other studies in this regard.

Wavelet-artificial neural network to predict the acetone sensing by indium oxide/iron oxide nanocomposites

“…In recent decades, nanomaterials are used in solar cells 22 , catalytic reactions 23 , heat exchangers 24 , wastewater treatment 25 , energy application 26 , and system sensing 27 . A diversity of mainly nanosized metal oxides, including tungsten oxide 28 , zinc oxide 29 , cobalt oxide 30 , iron oxide 31 , copper oxide 32 , bismuth oxide 33 , samarium oxide 34 , and indium oxide 35 have already been used to fabricate acetone-detecting sensors.…”

Recent Development of Nanomaterials for Transdermal Drug Delivery

“…A recent report described how cobalt ferrite magnetic (CoFe 2 O 4 ) NP could be used to remove azithromycin, an antibiotic for treating infectious diseases such as COVID-19, from hospital effluents via UV illumination [ 72 ]. CoFe 2 O 4 NPs are attracted to magnetic fields and generate heat when they move; this magnetic fluid hyperthermia is central to these noninvasive cancer treatments [ 73 ].…”

Magnetic studies of ultrafine CoFe2O4 nanoparticles with different molecular surface coatings

“…1–8 These characteristics make CoFe 2 O 4 NPs an excellent candidate for applications in different fields, such as spintronics, magnetic recording media, permanent magnets, biomedical applications, magnetic drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging, and for selective environmental nanoadsorbents. 9–12…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] These characteristics make CoFe 2 O 4 NPs an excellent candidate for applications in different fields, such as spintronics, magnetic recording media, permanent magnets, biomedical applications, magnetic drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging, and for selective environmental nanoadsorbents. [9][10][11][12] Very likely, molecular coating of NPs represents the most important and, at the same time, critical step while designing new nanostructured magnetic materials. The interaction between molecules and surface atoms leads to a strong modification of surface magnetic properties, which is a key point in the physics of magnetic nanoparticles.…”