Detoxifying SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drugs from model and real wastewaters by industrial waste-derived multiphase photocatalysts

Mirabbos Hojamberdiev; Bożena Czech; Anna Wasilewska; Anna Boguszewska-Czubara; Kunio Yubuta; Hajime Wagata; Shahlo S Daminova; Zukhra C Kadirova; Ronald Vargas

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128300

Detoxifying SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drugs from model and real wastewaters by industrial waste-derived multiphase photocatalysts

J Hazard Mater. 2022 May 5:429:128300. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128300. Epub 2022 Jan 19.

Authors

Mirabbos Hojamberdiev¹, Bożena Czech², Anna Wasilewska³, Anna Boguszewska-Czubara⁴, Kunio Yubuta⁵, Hajime Wagata⁶, Shahlo S Daminova⁷, Zukhra C Kadirova⁷, Ronald Vargas⁸

Affiliations

¹ Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: hmirabbos@gmail.com.
² Department of Radiochemistry and Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Pl. M. Curie-Skłodowskiej 3, 20-031 Lublin, Poland. Electronic address: bczech@hektor.umcs.lublin.pl.
³ Department of Radiochemistry and Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Pl. M. Curie-Skłodowskiej 3, 20-031 Lublin, Poland.
⁴ Department of Medical Chemistry, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 4a, Lublin 20-093, Poland.
⁵ Department of Applied Quantum Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
⁶ Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Science and Technology, Meiji University, Kawasaki 214-8571, Japan.
⁷ Department of Inorganic Chemistry, National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent 100174, Uzbekistan; Uzbekistan-Japan Innovation Center of Youth, University Str. 2B, Tashkent 100095, Uzbekistan.
⁸ Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús (INTECH) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) / Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM), Avenida Intendente Marino, Km 8,2, B7130IWA Chascomús, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Abstract

The use of antiviral drugs has surged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in higher concentrations of these pharmaceuticals in wastewater. The degradation efficiency of antiviral drugs in wastewater treatment plants has been reported to be too low due to their hydrophilic nature, and an additional procedure is usually necessary to degrade them completely. Photocatalysis is regarded as one of the most effective processes to degrade antiviral drugs. The present study aims at synthesizing multiphase photocatalysts by a simple calcination of industrial waste from ammonium molybdate production (WU photocatalysts) and its combination with WO₃ (WW photocatalysts). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirm that the presence of multiple crystalline phases in the synthesized photocatalysts. UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra reveal that the synthesized multiphase photocatalysts absorb visible light up to 620 nm. Effects of calcination temperature of industrial waste (550-950 °C) and WO₃ content (0-100%) on photocatalytic activity of multiphase photocatalysts (WU and WW) for efficient removal of SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drugs (lopinavir and ritonavir) in model and real wastewaters are studied. The highest k₁ value is observed for the photocatalytic removal of ritonavir from model wastewater using WW4 (35.64 ×10^-2 min^-1). The multiphase photocatalysts exhibit 95% efficiency in the photocatalytic removal of ritonavir within 15 of visible light irradiation. In contrast, 60 min of visible light irradiation is necessary to achieve 95% efficiency in the photocatalytic removal of lopinavir. The ecotoxicity test using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos shows no toxicity for photocatalytically treated ritonavir-containing wastewater, and the contrary trend is observed for photocatalytically treated lopinavir-containing wastewater. The synthesized multiphase photocatalysts can be tested and applied for efficient degradation of other SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drugs in wastewater in the future.

Keywords: Antiviral drugs; Industrial waste; Multiphase photocatalyst; SARS-CoV-2; Water pollution; Water purification.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Antiviral Agents
COVID-19*
Catalysis
Humans
Industrial Waste
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
Wastewater*
Zebrafish

Substances

Antiviral Agents
Industrial Waste
Waste Water