Evaluation of heterogeneous catalytic ozonation process for diclofenac degradation in solutions synthetically prepared

Sodium diclofenac (DCF) is a common analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug, which has become an environmental problem due to its growth and accumulation into water bodies. In this work, commercial (with excipients) and analytical (pure) DCF mineralization was studied by means of heterogeneous catalytic ozonation. The process was carried out with magnetite (Fe₃O₄) as a catalyst, which preserves its physical and chemical properties during the process. The best results of mineralization were obtained after a 40-min treatment of 35 mg/L analytical DCF solution, with a 0.5 g/L catalyst concentration. These results showed the highest organic load decrease, measured as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), with 94 and 89%, respectively. In addition, the percentage of organic load decrease was compared between the conventional and the catalyzed process. Besides, reaction products were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the catalytic properties were identified by Mössbauer spectroscopy, which showed the catalyst maintained its nature after the process. Finally, the results obtained show that the heterogeneous catalytic process could be an efficient degradation treatment for emerging contaminants such as DCF.