Removal of Aspirin, Salicylic Acid, Paracetamol and p-Aminophenol by advanced membrane technology activated Charcoal and Clay Micelles Complex

Abstract

The stability of aspirin and paracetamol in sludge and the efficiency of advanced nano-membrane technology towards their removal from wastewater were investigated. The kinetics study revealed that aspirin and paracetamol were degraded in wastewater to salicylic acid and p-aminophenol, respectively. The kinetics at room temperature for the degradation reactions of both pharmaceuticals was first order kinetics with rate constants of 0.845 × 10-8 Ms-1 and1.0 × 10-8 Ms-1 , respectively. These values are about 10-foldhigher than those obtained for both pharmaceuticals in pure water under the same conditions. The performance of Al-Quds University wastewater treatment plant has shown complete removal of both pharmaceuticals from spiked wastewater within the detection limit of the analytical method. In addition, the adsorption isotherms for aspirin and paracetamol, and their metabolites were studied using both activated carbon and a clay-micelle complex. The isotherms were found to fit Langmuir isotherm.