Comparative study of Cu-impregnated ZnO and Ag-impregnated ZnO visible light driven photocatalysts for the sonophotocatalytic degradation of cefpodoxime proxetil in aqueous solution

A comparative study of Cu-impregnated ZnO and Ag-impregnated ZnO for the sonophotocatalytic degradation of cefpodoxime proxetil in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation were carried out. Optimum conditions for degradation of cefpodoxime proxetil using Cu-ZnO and Ag-ZnO was investigated. The effect of enhancers and scavengers were investigated using optimum conditions and hydrogen peroxide as enhancers. 100% degradation was achieved using Cu-ZnO and Ag-ZnO. Furthermore, total organic carbon analysis was carried out and 89% using Cu-ZnO and 93% using Ag-ZnO removal of total organic compounds were observed. The sonophotocatalytic degradation of cefpodoxime proxetil using Cu-ZnO and Ag-ZnO followed pseudo-first-order kinetic and the rate of degradation of cefpodoxime proxetil using Ag-ZnO was found higher (k1 = 0.228) than the Cu-ZnO photocatalyst (k1 = 0.185). The method has also been successfully applied in samples for sonophotocatalytic degradation.