Magnetic nanoparticle loaded ozone microbubbles for effective degradation of organic pollutants from sewage water

Pharmaceutical compounds contaminating water bodies is a threat to public health. It is therefore necessary to remove these pharmaceutical residues from sewage water. In order to effectively remove traces of pharmaceutical pollutants, various techniques such as oxidation ozonation, photocatalysis, membrane filtrations, and activated carbon adsorption have been employed by many researchers. However, the aforementioned techniques do not effectively remove traces of pharmaceutical pollutants from water completely. In the current work, magnetic catalyst nanoparticles loaded ozone microbubbles were synthesized for the efficient degradation of trace quantities of pharmaceutical pollutants in sewage water. Ozone microbubbles, typically smaller than 100 μm, were used for the effective degradation of ciprofloxacin, a commonly used antibiotic drug. The degraded intermediates of ciprofloxacin produced during the treatment process were estimated using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LCMSMS), which enabled the formulation of pathway for fragmentation/degradation of ciprofloxacin using magnetic nanoparticle-coated ozone microbubbles. The catalyst nanoparticles could be retrieved completely without any traces left behind in the treated water. This method of purification can be easily scaled up and can be used in large-scale water treatment plants. Toxicity studies were performed using zebrafish larvae to confirm the safety of water obtained after treatment of sewage water using catalyst-coated ozone microbubbles.