Performance of Iron-Zero (nZVI) Nanno Particles in Removal of Cephalexin from Synthetic Wastewater

Existence of antibiotic in wastewater causes wastewater treatment more difficult. The amount of antibiotic consumption, especially Cephalexin, is considerable so that it concentration in pharmaceutical wastewater is usually high. This study attempts to determine the efficiency removal of Cephalexin by iron nanoparticles from synthetic wastewater. Moreover, the effect of operating parameters such as initial concentrations of Cephalexin, pH, amount of iron nanoparticles and detention time on removal efficiency are investigated and the optimum operating range for each of these operating variables is experimentally determined. The preparation of iron nanoparticles were carried out daily. Samples were prepared with different concentration from a stock solution with 100 mg/L Cephalexin concentration. Cephalexin concentration in each experiment was determined by HPLC method. The results showed that the removal efficiency of Cephalexin in the optimal condition (initial Cephalexin concentration, of 100ppm; detention time, of 10min; iron nanoparticles amount, of 0.8gr; pH, of 5) about 52%.