Sonocatalytical degradation enhancement for ibuprofen and sulfamethoxazole in the presence of glass beads and single-walled carbon nanotubes

• Sonocatalytical degradation of ibuprofen and sulfamethoxazole was performed.
• Single walled carbon nanotubes enhanced the degradation of pharmaceuticals.
• Synergistic effects on the degradation PhACs were observed in US/SWNTs/GBs process.

Sonocatalytic degradation experiments were carried out to determine the effects of glass beads (GBs) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) on ibuprofen (IBP) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) removal using low and high ultrasonic frequencies (28 and 1000 kHz). In the absence of catalysts, the sonochemical degradation at pH 7, optimum power of 0.18 W mL−1, and a temperature of 15 °C was higher (79% and 72%) at 1000 kHz than at 28 kHz (45% and 33%) for IBP and SMX, respectively. At the low frequency (28 kHz) H2O2 production increased significantly, from 10 μM (no GBs) to 86 μM in the presence of GBs (0.1 mm, 10 g L−1); however, no enhancement was achieved at 1000 kHz. In contrast, the H2O2 production increased from 10 μM (no SWNTs) to 31 μM at 28 kHz and from 82 μM (no SWNTs) to 111 μM at 1000 kHz in the presence of SWNTs (45 mg L−1). Thus, maximum removals of IBP and SMX were obtained in the presence of a combination of GBs and SWNTs at the low frequency (94% and 88%) for 60 min contact time; however, >99% and 97% removals were achieved for 40 and 60 min contact times at the high frequency for IBP and SMX, respectively. The results indicate that both IBP and SMX degradation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. Additionally, the enhanced removal of IBP and SMX in the presence of catalysts was because GBs and SWNTs increased the number of free OH radicals due to ultrasonic irradiation and the adsorption capacity increase with SWNT dispersion.