Novel sonodynamic Technology for Pharmaceutical Contaminants: Implications for water Purification, Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Health

Nowadays, pharmaceutical contamination, including antibiotics, in the environment leads to the formation of resistant genes in microorganisms. Pharmaceuticals, particularly major classes of antibiotics, enter the environment primarily through the discharge of hospital effluents, industrial wastewater, and other similar sources. To address the removal and degradation of these pollutants, numerous researchers have focused on the development and application of advanced photocatalytic and sonocatalytic technologies. Various studies have demonstrated that these approaches offer significant advantages in the elimination and decomposition of pharmaceutical compounds. This superiority is mainly attributed to the effective propagation of ultrasonic waves in aqueous media and the resulting enhancement of sonophotocatalytic effects. In the sonocatalytic process, both light photon energy and ultrasonic wave energy are utilized as excitation sources. The passage of ultrasonic waves through liquid media initiates acoustic cavitation, creating favorable conditions for the degradation of contaminants. Moreover, the incorporation of nanoparticles as sonocatalysts can significantly reduce the energy consumption and reaction time required for pollutant degradation. Overall, the efficiency of photocatalytic and sonocatalytic processes depends on parameters such as irradiation or sonication time, catalyst dosage, solution pH, and other operational conditions. This review aims to highlight the importance of advanced sonophotocatalytic technologies in the remediation of pharmaceutical contaminants in water towards Environmental Health.

کلیدواژه ها:

Drug ، water pollution ، nanoparticles ، photocatalyst ، sonocatalyst ، Environmental Health