Photocatalytic Degradation of Metronidazole in Aqueous Solutions by Copper oxide nanoparticles

CuO has been synthesized in the nano-sized (10-15 nm) and examined as a photocatalyst for degradation of metronidazole in its aqueous solution. The removal studies were performed in the absence of light and under the effect of UV-radiation. The influences of various operational parameters such as catalyst dose, drug concentration, and time of exposure on percentage photodegradation of metronidazole were investigated. The experimental results revealed that the photodegradation of metronidazole increased with increasing CuO dose and exposure time, while decreasing with increase initial concentration of metronidazole. The maximum degradation efficiency (85.0%) occurred after about 120 min of irradiation. The degradation rate followed first order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.0198 min-1.