Preparation and characterizations of TiO2/ZnO nanohybrid and its application in photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline in wastewater

Abstract

The photodegradation of tetracycline antibiotics (TC) in an aqueous solution, using the TiO2 nanoparticles, ZnO microparticles, and TiO2/ZnO composite under the UV lamp in a continuous reactor, was performed. The effects of different parameters, such as the initial TC concentration, medium pH, ratio of each photocatalyst, and the flow rate were comprehensively studied. SEM, EDX, and XRD characterization techniques were employed to study the morphology and structure features of the prepared composite. The results revealed that a more significant amount of TC is not easily removed from wastewater. Furthermore, by increasing the pH of the medium to 11, the efficiency of TC degradation was increased, while the amount of removal remained stable at higher pH values. As the flow rate increased up to 190 mL/min, the removal efficiency increased; however, at higher flow rates, lower efficiency was obtained. Moreover, using multivariate analysis and response surface methodology (RSM), a model for removing TC and the effect of experimental parameters on removal efficiency was proposed. The optimal conditions using the RSM method were found to be the reduction efficiency of 78.94 % in pH = 11 (flow rate of 132 mL/min, and TiO2 concentration of 323 mg) and reduction efficiency of 75.89% in pH = 9 (flow rate of 143.19 mL/min and TiO2 concentration of 312.73 mg). © 2023 Elsevier B.V.