Photodegradation of ciprofloxacin using Z-scheme TiO2/SnO2 nanostructures as photocatalyst

• DOI: 10.1016/j.enmm.2021.100466
• Publication Date: 2021-04-19T12:01:04Z
• Authors: Ludyane Nasciment...; Francisco Xavier ...; Anderson Oliveira...; José Milton Elias...
• Keywords: Photodegradation

Abstract This study reports the ciprofloxacin photodegradation TiO2/SnO2 nanocomposites as heterogeneous photocatalysts. Ciprofloxacin has been chosen because it is a drug used on a large scale, and it is also responsible for the contamination of several aquatic matrices. Initially, titanate nanotubes (Na-TiNT) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method, and then the ion exchange modified with Sn2+. The structural and morphological analysis of the synthesized material has been performed by DRX, RAMAN, and MET, confirming the rupture and conversion of sodium titanate nanotubes to TiO2/SnO2 nanocomposite. The superficial area from N2 adsorption/desorption using the BET method confirms the increase of superficial area from 98.80 m2 g−1 (Na-TiNT) to 121.70 m2 g−1 TiO2/SnO2 nanocomposite. The Survey and high-resolution XPS spectra have been confirmed the presence of characteristic elements and their oxidation states, indicating that both Ti and Sn are exhibiting tetravalent oxidation (Ti4+ and Sn4+). The photocatalytic experiments were studied at different variables, such as catalyst dosage, drug concentration, and pH solution. Therefore, the high photocatalytic performance was ∼ 98 % of ciprofloxacin (CIP) degradation and 163 times faster than photolysis at neutral pH and initial CIP concentration of 5 ppm. Further, the study of radical scavengers on photocatalytic experiments indicates that the oxygen singlet, holes, and superoxide radicals are the main species associated with the CIP photodegradation.