Mapeamento quali-quantitativo do processo de fotocatálise heterogênea: uma análise do fototratamento de antibióticos, anti-hipertensivos e anti-inflamatórios (AINE's)/analgésicos

Abstract

Water contamination through the release of persistent/recalcitrant organic compounds into aquatic matrices is a recurring problem in society. One of the known and used treatments is the heterogeneous photocatalysis process, which is capable of destroying and mineralizing several types of persistent contaminants in the medium. Thus, the objective of this research was to carry out a qualitative-quantitative mapping of scientific productions about heterogeneous photocatalysis applied to drug treatment, based on a systematic and bibliometric review of the raw and final bibliographic portfolio, followed by a systemic analysis regarding the gaps and future trends on the subject, using the constructivist method PROKNOW-C. The articles were located in two databases, Scopus and WoS, through two guiding axes that generated the search string ("emerging pollutants" OR "emerging contaminants" OR pharmaceuticals OR caffeine) AND (photocatalysis OR "photocatalytic degradation"), in the period from 2010 to 2020. Of the 3,498 articles in the raw database, 1,257 were duplicates. Of the remaining articles, the titles were read and 1,030 were selected. In the academic relevance stage, 270 articles were obtained (repository A) and of the articles without scientific recognition, 28 (repository B) were left for reading the abstract, obtaining a total of 133. After complete reading, 52 were accepted (repository C). Of these, 40 articles were left that addressed three classes of investigated pharmaceutical compounds and thus were chosen to compose the Final Bibliographic Portfolio (PBF), for which 4 guiding lenses were chosen for the analysis of the existing gaps in the theme. In the international scenario, it was observed that China, the United States and Spain are the countries that publish the most on this topic, with Brazil occupying the 8th position in the ranking. The most outstanding journal is the Chemical Engineering Journal, with the Environmental Sciences area concentrating most publications in the world, followed by the chemistry and engineering areas. It was also possible to identify that the main authors that constituted the crude portfolio were Faria, JL, Dionysiou, DD, and Silva AMT The meta-analysis study included four PBF works and the results confirmed that the use of TiO2 combined with other metallic compounds in several forms proved to be efficient in the degradation of the studied drugs in more than 80% for initial concentrations of 0.4 g/L. Among the gaps studied, the following stand out: (1) the limited number of studies on the interactions of input variables; (2) the large number of experiments carried out on synthetic effluents and with drug concentrations outside the reality of real effluents; (3) the lack of studies on the biodegradability coefficients, in order to verify the feasibility of a combined biological and photochemical treatment system; (4) the lack of results related to the cost analysis of the heterogeneous photocatalysis process applied to drug treatment; (5) the little use of new types of catalysts in the treatment of drugs from alternative and sustainable residues.