Advancements in microalgae-mediated technologies for antibiotic removal from wastewater: a review

The development of efficient systems for removing antibiotics from wastewater is being pushed by increase in antibiotic resistance brought on by the environmental discharge of antibiotics. Antibiotic were not completely eliminated using conventional technologies like activated sludge, constructed wetland systems and many other procedures. A viable alternative for treating wastewater through adsorption, accumulation, biodegradation, photodegradation, and hydrolysis has recently been investigated using microalgae-based technology. This review focuses on effects of antibiotics on microalgae, as well as the ways in which microalgae remove antibiotics and how they work with other technologies to do so, including photocatalysis, advanced oxidation, and complementary microorganism degradation. The physiochemical and operational parameters like pH, temperature, light intensity and many more which influence the elimination of antibiotics in the wastewater treatment system. Future research requirements, further opportunities, the limitations of the available microalgae-based technologies were also discussed.