Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen from aqueous solution using Ag/ZnO nanoparticles

Acetaminophen is a commonly used pain reliever and fever reducer that can cause issues when it enters municipal wastewater due to its solubility in water. In this study, hydrothermal method was employed to syn-thesize Ag/ZnO and its effectiveness was investigated in photodegradation of acetaminophen. The physico-chemical properties of nanocatalyst were examined using various techniques including FESEM, MAP, EDX, FTIR, BET, and TGA. To determine optimal conditions for reactor batch experiments, inclusive of initial acetaminophen concentration, catalyst dosage, and contact time, the response surface methodology (RSM) was utilized based on Box-Benken's rule. The optimal conditions for effective performance of photocatalyst were found to be pH = 11, initial concentration of 5 ppm, catalyst dosage of 0.15 g, and a contact time of 35 min. The results demonstrated a maximum removal efficiency of 94 % for acetaminophen. Additionally, the photocatalyst kinetics data exhibited good agreement with pseudo-first-order model.