A review on heterogeneous oxidation of acetaminophen based on micro and nanoparticles catalyzed by different activators

Emerging contaminants are the contaminants that newly identified their adverse effects on the environment. Pharmaceutical compounds have gained researchers' attention among developing organic pollutants as the demand for pharmaceutical compounds has increased, implying their continuing release into the environment. Acetaminophen (ACT) is a popular drug that is wildly used without prescription for the relief of headaches and rheumatic pains. In some places, the detected values of ACT are more than the natural values, which may seriously threaten the environment. Many methods have been applied to remove ACT from water. The advanced oxidation process (AOP) based on micro and nanoparticles has shown promising results to remove ACT from an aqueous medium. This review provides a summary and an organization of the scattered available information related to studies that investigated the removal of ACT from water by an AOP based on micro and nanoparticles. Many topics investigated in this review include the influence of temperature, pH, catalyst concentration, pollutant concentration, the effects of scavengers and oxidants, the stability of the catalyst, and doping ratio. The main results obtained for the removal of ACT by using micro and nanoparticles have been discussed in this review.