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Investigation of the efficiency of immobilized titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the photocatalytic removal of metronidazole as a model contaminant from antibiotic compounds
Paper ID : 2242-UFGNSM13-FULL (R1)
Authors:
Abstract:
The presence of emerging contaminants in the aquatic environment such as antibiotics and their potential effects on living organisms has become an issue of growing concern. The photocatalytic degradation of metronidazole (MNZ) aqueous solution has been investigated using supported TiO2 photocatalyst under UV light irradiation. The investigated photocatalyst was TiO2 nanoparticles immobilized on glass plates by a heat attachment method. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) images of the immobilized TiO2 nanoparticles showed the good coating on the plates. Degradation of metronidazole antibiotic in aqueous solution by TiO2 photocatalysis under UV-A irradiation was studied. The reaction progress was monitored by UV-Vis measurements using a double beam UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The influence of UV light intensity on the activity of supported TiO2 photocatalyst was examined. The results showed that the TiO2 nanoparticles immobilized on glass plate were most active for the degradation of metronidazole. The photocatalytic degradation approximately followed the pseudo-first order kinetics. Mineralization (in terms of carbon conversion to CO2) is enhanced at lower concentrations. Under the optimized reaction condition, 94% photodegradation efficiency of metronidazole at pH~ 6 and 20 ppm of this antibiotic after 180 min was achieved.
Keywords:
Keywords: TiO2 nanoparticles, Photocatalytic degradation, Immobilized photocatalyst , UV-A, metronidazole.
Status : Paper Accepted (Poster Presentation)