Non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma assisted degradation of the pharmaceutical drug valsartan: influence of catalyst and degradation environment

This paper investigated the degradation of the harmaceutical drug Valsartan (VS) using non-equilibriumatmospheric pressure plasma (NEAPP) with various operating conditions. The heterogeneousphotocatalyst ZnO nanoparticles (NP's) were synthesized using a hydrothermal process. The
morphology, chemical composition and structure of as-synthesized ZnO NPs were examined by FieldEmission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Then, VS degradation was examined in three subsequent treatmentconditions inluding plasma treatment alone, the combination of plasma with as-prepared ZnO NPs and
various environments (air, oxygen and hydrogen peroxide) at fixed plasma operating potential andtreatment time. The degradation efficiency of plasma-treated VS by various conditions was observedusing UV-visible spectroscopy. Optical Emission Spectrometry (OES) was used to characterize the