Green Synthesis of Silver-Incorporated Rutile TiO2 for Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Ciprofloxacin and Carmine G Dye Pollutants

Abstract

Developing sustainable TiO2-based photocatalysts for environmental remediation is an increasingly significant area of research. However, a limited understanding of the long-term ecological impact of these photocatalysts poses a barrier to their practical and industrial-scale applications. To address this challenge, this work employed a green synthesis approach to prepare an Ag/TiO2 photocatalyst designed to improve environmental compatibility and enhance efficiency in pollutant degradation. Ag/TiO2 was synthesized using mushroom biomass as a natural capping to evaluate its effectiveness in the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and azo Carmine G dye (ACGD). The mushroom biomass served as a renewable cost-effective support for Ag incorporation, while the Ag modification of TiO2 could enhance the photocatalyst’s performance. Structural, chemical, and morphological characterization techniques were applied and showed that the Ag/TiO2 particles consisted of irregularly shaped nanoparticles. The CIP removal reached 82.46% after 300 min and ACGD removal efficiency went up to 83.64%. The enhanced performance is attributed to the unique electronic and structural properties of Ag-modified TiO2. This study highlights the potential of Ag/TiO2 synthesized via green methods as a high-performance photocatalyst for the effective remediation of pharmaceutical and dye pollutants in wastewater treatment applications.