Kinetic study of spiramycin removal from aqueous solution using heterogeneous photocatalysis

Spiramycin macrolide antibiotic (SPM) can be photocatalytically degraded on TiO2 (anatase variety). The experiments are done in a batch reactor and the effect of some key parameters is investigated under low energy of artificial UV light. The reaction rate is affected by varying TiO2 dose, pH and SPM concentration. Under optimized conditions, a photodegradation efficiency of 98% is achieved and the SPM photodegradation follows pseudo-first order kinetics. The Langmuir–Hinshelwood (L–H) model is successfully used to fit the experimental data, indicating the dependence of the reaction rate on the chemical reaction step. The L–H model led to the determination of both reaction kinetic and adsorption/desorption equilibrium constants. In order to give an overall estimate of the by-products, chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon, and calculated average oxidation state monitor the photodegradation process.