Degradation of Diclofenac Sodium under Solar Light Irradiation by Photocatalytic Performance of ZnO and V2O5

Pharmaceutical pollutants are one of the most important issues of modern life, and their negative effects on the environment and human health are undeniable. In the present work, the effectiveness of the photocatalytic process was studied by two semiconductors (ZnO and V2O5) in order to remove the Diclofenac Sodium completely under solar irradiation. The study examined the impact of parameters such as the high-level range concentration of pharmaceutical, catalyst dosage, pH changes, and time on the photodegradation of Diclofenac Sodium in aqueous solution. All the experiments were carried out under solar and UV irradiation to compare the two circumstances. The optimum conditions obtained for photodegradation of Diclofenac Sodium include a reaction time of 180 min, zinc oxide and vanadium pentoxide = 1 g L^-1, Diclofenac Sodium concentration = 300 mg L^-1, and pH of 4. In addition, chemical oxygen demand removal was investigated for all the conditions, and total degradation was observed by V2O5 under optimum conditions. The study of reaction kinetics was carried out in optimum conditions, and a pseudo-first-order kinetic model was approximately in agreement with experimental results in each case.