A proficient hydrothermally designed Au-TiO2/ZnFe2O4 composite for ciprofloxacin removal in wastewater under natural solar light

Abstract

This study presents the development of an Au-TiO2/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite photocatalyst through a hydrothermal method and used for the mineralization of ciprofloxacin under natural solar light exposure. The nanocomposite's crystalline structure, nanostructure, and optical characteristics were thoroughly investigated using XRD, FT-IR, XPS, SEM, EDX, ECM, HR-TEM, UV–vis DRS, and PL analysis. The XPS analysis confirmed the successful synthesis of the Au-TiO2/ZnFe2O4 composites.Notably, the Au-TiO2/ZnFe2O4 composite exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic efficiency compared to both TiO2/ZnFe2O4 and TiO2 alone in the degradation of ciprofloxacin. The improved performance is attributed to the introduction of Au nanoparticles, which act as electron traps, facilitating efficient charge separation and increasing light absorption in the visible region.Furthermore, the synthesized catalyst displayed remarkable stability over five cycles and could be easily recovered and reused without loss of efficacy. This work demonstrates the potential of the Au-TiO2/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite as a promising and sustainable photocatalyst for the degradation of ciprofloxacin in water treatment applications under solar light exposure.