Notice of RetractionStudy on photochemical degradation of oxytetracycline with UV-H2O2 process

Notice of Retraction

After careful and considered review of the content of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of IEEE´s Publication Principles.

We hereby retract the content of this paper. Reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper.

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The photooxidation of oxytetracycline (OTC) was carried out in the presence of H₂O₂ using UV254. The effects of H₂O₂ dosage, initial OTC concentration, UV light power, pH have been studied. These parameters strongly influenced the degradation. The degradation of OTC in UV-H₂O₂ process was the combined effect of direct photolysis and the reaction of hydroxyl radicals. The kinetics of degradation followed pseudo-first order kinetics, and the increase of initial OTC concentration from 2.2 to 7.7 mg/l decreased removal rate. The optimal H₂O₂ concentration was 10 mg/l, and increase of UV power from 12 to 48 W increased the degradation reaction rate. The process was more efficient in acid (pH 5.5) and near neutral medium (pH 7.3) than in alkaline medium (pH 8.4).