2nd International Conference on Environment, Technology and Management (ICETEM), Niğde, Türkiye, 13 - 15 Ekim 2022, ss.44
Many studies conducted today show that there is a significant increase in the types and amounts
of drugs used in both prevention and treatment processes due to population growth and the
diversity of existing diseases. Drugs, which are quite complex and resistant due to their
chemical structure, are in the class of micropollutants. Micropollutants that reach the sewerage
system via urea and from there to the treatment plants via collectors tend to remain in the
effluent in conventional treatment systems without being treated at all. Micropollutants have
the potential to cause irreversible damage to the ecosystem and human health even at low
concentrations, and advanced treatment processes are required for their effective treatment.
In this study, the removal of diclofenac sodium, which is the most used drug in the antiinflammatory drug group, by anodic oxidation process was investigated. Diclofenac sodium is
a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used to reduce inflammation and relieve pain and for
acute injuries. In the anodic oxidation process, boron doped diamond electrode (BDD) is
employed as the anode material and stainless-steel (SS-316) is used as the cathode. Operational
parameters for the anodic oxidation experiments were investigated. In the study, each
experiment was performed at 80 minutes, and the spectrophotometric analyzes of the samples
were carried out at 276 nm wavelength for the samples taken from the electrochemical cell at
each 10-minute periods. As a result, 97.5% drug removal was achieved at the initial drug
concentration of 10 µM, applied current of 50 mA with the background electrolyte
concentration of 125 mM.