Photosonochemical degradation of butyl-paraben: Optimization, toxicity and kinetic studies

•The treatment time and calorimetric power greatly affect the oxidation rate of BPB.•Their contribution for BPB removal is 45.17% and 22.65%, respectively.•More than 99% of BPB can be removed using the US/UV process.•43.3% of TOC removal was achieved and the toxicity on V. fisheri was reduced.•The BPB degradation is well described by the pseudo-first-order kinetic (0.0367 min− 1).

The objective of the present work is to evaluate the potential of a photosonolysis process for the degradation of butyl-paraben (BPB). After 120 min of treatment time, high removal of BPB was achieved by the photosonolysis (US/UV) process (88.0 ± 0.65%) compared to the photochemical (UV) and the conventional ultrasonication (US) processes. Several factors such as calorimetric power, treatment time, pH and initial concentration of BPB were investigated. Using a 24 factorial matrix, the treatment time and the calorimetric power are the main parameters influencing the degradation rate of BPB. Subsequently, a central composite design methodology has been investigated to determine the optimal experimental parameters for BPB degradation. The US/UV process applied under optimal operating conditions (at a calorimetric power of 40 W during 120 min and under pH 7) is able to oxidize around 99.2 ± 1.4% of BPB and to record 43.3% of mineralization. During the US/UV process, BPB was mainly transformed into 1 hydroxy BPB, dihydroxy BPB, hydroquinone and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. Microtox biotests (Vibrio fisheri) showed that the treated effluent was not toxic. The pseudo-first order kinetic model (k = 0.0367 min− 1) described very well the oxidation of BPB.