RAPID DESTRUCTION OF THE NON-STEROIDAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUG DICLOFENAC USING ADVANCED NANO-FENTON PROCESS IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Introduction: Pharmaceuticals have been attracting the attention of many researchers and are considered as a xenobiotic and emerging pollutant in the environment. Diclofenac(DCF) as a non-steroidal pharmaceutical has been detected in water and wastewater samples more than other compounds due to high consumption and limited biodegradability. The disastrous event of a reduction in the number of vultures due to kidney damage following feeding on the corpse of domestic animals contaminated with DCF and the high bioaccumulation capacity of this drug in the tissue of organisms indicate the significance of this compound as a potential contaminant. Materials and methods: In this study, advanced Nano-Fenton process (ANF) was applied to remove DCF from aqueous solutions. The full factorial design was applied using R software (3.1.0) to optimize variables. DCF residual concentration was determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography device and the degree of mineralization was determined through TOC analysis. Results: The mean DCF removal efficiency under different operational conditions and at the time of 1-10 min was obtained to be about 83%. With the increase in the time and H/F along with the reduction in initial concentration of the drug, the response variable (DCF removal) increased. Conclusion: Our research showed that ANF can be considered as a quick and efficient process for the removal of DCF from wastewater with a significant amount of mineralization.