Photocatalytic degradation of Lidocaine HCl using CuO/ZnO nanoparticles

In this paper, the photocatalytic degradation of Lidocaine HCl, an anesthetic was investigated inaqueous solution using CuO/ZnO as a photocatalyst. The degradation was studied under differentconditions including the amount of the photocatalyst, irradiation time, initial concentration of drug,pH of the system, initial concentration, addition of oxidant on the reaction rate and anion presence.The results showed that the photocatalytic degradation of Lidocaine HCl was strongly influenced bythese parameters. The best conditions for the photocatalytic degradation of Lidocaine HCl wereobtained. The optimum amount of the photocatalyst used is 0.48 g/L. The photodegradationefficiency of Lidocaine HCl increases with the increase of the illumination time. It was found that thephotodegradation efficiency decreased with increasing the initial concentration of Lidocaine HCl.The photodegradation efficiency of Lidocaine HCl was accelerated by adding a small amount ofH2O2. The possible roles of the additives on the reactions and the possible mechanisms of effect werealso discussed.