Degradation of Penicillin G by heat activated persulfate in aqueous solution

We used Heat Activated of Persulfate (HAP) to decompose Penicillin G (PEN G) in aqueous solution. The effect of pH (3–11), temperature (313–353 K), and initial concentration of Sodium Persulfate (SPS) (0.05–0.5 mM) on the decomposition level of PEN G were investigated. The residue of PEN G was determined by spectrophotometry at the wavelength of 290 nm. Also, the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) was measured in each experiment. The Total Organic Carbon (TOC) analysis was utilized for surveying the mineralization of PEN G. In addition, based on Arrhenius equation, the activation energy of PEN G decomposition was calculated. The results indicated that the maximum PEN G removal rate was obtained at pH 5 and by increasing the doses of SPS from 0.05 to 0.5 mM, the PEN G decomposition was enhanced. It was found that an increase in temperature is accompanied by an increase in removal efficiency of PEN G. The activation energy of the studied process was determined to be 94.8 kJ mol−1, suggesting that a moderate activation energy is required for PEN G decomposition. The TOC measurements indicate that the HAP can efficiently mineralize PEN G. Besides, the presence of the scavengers significantly suppressed the HAP process to remove the PEN G. Overall, the results of this study demonstrate that using HAP process can be a suitable method for decomposing of PEN G in aqueous solutions. •Heat Activated of Persulfate (HAP) was used to degradation of Penicillin G from aqueous solution.•Mineralization of PEN G was investigated by means of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) analysis.•It was found that the increase of temperature up to 353 K can improved the efficiency removal of PEN G.•Maximum PEN G removal efficiency was obtained 98% ( [PEN G] = 0.02 mM, pH 5, [persulfate] = 0.5 mM, Temp = 353 K, Time = 75 min).•Analyzing of TOC indicated that the utilized process can efficiently mineralize (68.7%) the PEN G.