Ultrasound assisted enzymatic degradation of diclofenac sodium: Optimization of process parameters and kinetics

Diclofenac sodium is the most commonly detected nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug in aquatic environment. Considering the various adverse effects of diclofenac, its degradation with novel approach of combination of ultrasound and enzyme laccase has been investigated. Effect of various process parameters including enzyme concentration, temperature, power, duty cycle and speed of agitation has been investigated. The enzyme concentration, temperature, power, duty cycle and speed of agitation which executed maximum extent of degradation were 0.025% (w/v), 50 °C, 100 W, 50% and 300 rpm, respectively. Under these optimized operating parameters, maximum extent of degradation achieved was 96%. Also, the kinetics parameters were investigated from the kinetic study. It has been observed that the combination of ultrasound with enzyme results in improved degradation results over the conventional method along with lower reaction time.