Fabrication of novel neodymium oxide coupled mesoporous titania for effective visible light-induced photocatalyst for decomposition of Ciprofloxacin

Abstract

A novel procedure for constructing mesoporous Nd2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites with different Nd2O3 (0.5–2%) was performed utilizing a soft template and impregnation method. Aqueous solutions of ciprofloxacin (CIP) as a pollutant antibiotics model were utilized to estimate the photocatalytic ability of the mesoporous Nd2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites under visible exposure. The Nd2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites displayed promoted photocatalytic ability for CIP degradation compared with TiO2 NPs, with a maximum degradation of 100% over 1.5%Nd2O3/TiO2 nanocomposite during 150 min illumination time, which is almost eight folds greater than TiO2 NPs. The apparent rate constant of 1.5% Nd2O3/TiO2 nanocomposite exhibited 11.8 times larger than TiO2 NPs. The promotion of photocatalytic ability over Nd2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites was ascribed to the combination between Nd2O3 and TiO2, leading to enhanced formation of the •OH and •O2− accountable for CIP decomposition. The introduction of Nd2O3 into TiO2 was promoted transportation and separation of charge carriers. The Nd2O3/TiO2 photocatalysts exhibited good corrosive resistance and mechanical stability after five consecutive runs of CIP degradation. The photocatalytic performances and mechanism over Nd2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites were verified utilizing photoluminescence and photocurrent density measurements. The prepared mesoporous Nd2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites are promising for environmental remediation.