Sonochemical techniques to degrade pharmaceutical organic pollutants

Pharmaceuticals are one of the chemical groups largely used in health care, diagnosis aids, cure, treatment, and prevention of disease. Increasing production and use of pharmaceutical products has led to the entry of these products into the environment and eventual pollution. Several processes have been studied including the use of ultrasound for the removal of these pollutants from the aquatic environment. This review summarizes recent research advances dealing with the development of sonochemical technologies for the degradation of pharmaceutical organic pollutants. The review also includes the mechanism of sonochemical processes, the characteristics of irradiation sources, and the types of reactors used. Moreover, the important factors affecting the sonochemical oxidation efficiency are discussed, including the electrical power, frequency, and temperature. Finally, this paper discusses the recent applications of sonochemical processes on the degradation of pharmaceutical organic pollutants and suggests new research directions for the development of this promising technology