Separation of amoxicillin from pharmaceutical wastewaters via a hollow fiber supported liquid membrane

Abstract

Amoxicillin is an antibiotic used in the treatment of bacterial infections in humans beings and animals. The beta-lactum ring of the drug can inhibit or destroy the cell walls of the bacteria causing the bacteria to die. Amoxicillin residues, however, can be found in water resources. Therefore, there is a need to treat wastewater containing amoxicillin residues before releasing it into the environment. To prevent this problem, the hollow fiber supported liquid membrane (HFSLM) system had been employed to extract and recover amoxicillin out of synthetic wastewater. Factors studied included type and concentration of the extractants (Aliquat 336, D2EHPA and Alamine336) and type and concentration of the solvent in the liquid membrane phase (1-decanol, benzene, dichloromethane, ethylene dichloride and chloroform). Concentration of both feed and stripping solutions as well as the pH of feed solution was also investigated together with flow rate of feed and stripping solutions, operating temperature and operating time. The results showed that the concentration of Aliquat 336 (6 mmol / L) dissolved in 1-decanol, feed solution pH = 8.0, concentration of the feed solution (6.0 mmol per liter), concentration of the stripping solution (6.0 mmol per liter), flow rate of both feed and stripping solution equal to 100 ml per minute, operating temperature of 318 K and operating time 100 min. Two modules were connected in series and circulating continuous flow. Extraction and recovery of amoxicillin reached 95.25% and 89.74%, respectively.