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Photodegradation of Ibuprofen Using Phthalocyanine–Grafted Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles
* 1 , 2 , 2 , 3 , 3 , 2 , 1
1  Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Grunwaldzka 6, 60-780 Poznań, Poland
2  Chair and Department of Chemical Technology of Drugs, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Grunwaldzka 6, 60-780 Poznań, Poland
3  Institute of Chemistry and Technical Electrochemistry, Poznan University of Technology, Berdychowo 4, 60-965 Poznań, Poland

Published: 09 November 2020 by MDPI in 1st International Electronic Conference on Catalysis Sciences session Posters
Abstract:

Frequent use of pharmaceuticals and their improper disposal increasingly contribute to environmental pollution. Ibuprofen, a commonly used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is usually not completely removed in the wastewater treatment process. To address this problem, we attempted to use photocatalysis to develop a new effective method for water remediation.

For this purpose, copper(II) phthalocyanine (CuPc) and zinc(II) phthalocyanine (ZnPc) were deposited on titanium dioxide nanoparticles (5 and 15 nm), yielding two types of photocatalytic material: CuPc@TiO2, ZnPc@TiO2. Briefly, TiO2 nanoparticles were suspended in a Pc solution in dichloromethane. The mixture was left overnight stirring, the solvent was evaporated and the resulting solid dried at room temperature.

The photocatalytic experiment was carried out in a reactor composed of three vessels containing aqueous ibuprofen solution (10 mg/L) and the photocatalytic material. The mixtures were stirred and irradiated with three UV lamps (λ = 365 nm), positioned on a circular line. Samples were taken at -0.5, 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 6 h after the irradiation started. The concentration of ibuprofen was determined using HPLC-MS/MS.

Ibuprofen was photocatalytically degraded according to the first-order kinetics. When using CuPc@TiO2, nearly 90% of ibuprofen content was removed from the solution after six hours of the experiment.

This study was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland under grant number 2016/21/B/NZ9/00783.

Keywords: ibuprofen; nanoparticles; photodegradation; photocatalysis; phthalocyanines; titanium dioxide
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