Abstract
In this study, perovskite ZnTiO3 photocatalysts were fabricated by the sol–gel method. The photocatalytic capability was verified by the degradation of the emerging contaminant, the antibiotic amoxicillin (AMX). For the preparation, the parameters of the calcination temperature and the additional amount of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and ammonia are discussed, including the calcining temperature (500, 600, 700, 800 °C), the volume of ammonia (750, 1500, 3000 μL), and the weight of PVP (3 g and 5 g). The prepared perovskite ZnTiO3 was characterized by XRD, FESEM, BET, and UV-Vis. It is shown that the perovskite ZnTiO3 photocatalysts are structurally rod-like and ultraviolet light-responsive. Consequently, the synthesis conditions for fabricating the perovskite ZnTiO3 photocatalysts with the highest photocatalytic performance were a calcining temperature of 700 °C, an additional ammonia amount of 1500 μL, and added PVP of 5 g. Moreover, the photocatalytic degradation of perovskite ZnTiO3 photocatalysts on other pollutants, including the antibiotic tetracycline (TC), methyl orange (MO), and methylene blue (MB) dyes, was also examined. This provides the basis for the application of perovskite ZnTiO3 as a photocatalyst to decompose emerging contaminants and organic pollutants in wastewater treatment.
Highlights
The use of antibiotics has increased with the development of medicine, fishery, and animal husbandry in recent years
The results showed that the different calcination temperatures significantly affected the photocatalytic performance in the degradation of the AMX
As the calcination temperature increased to 600 ◦C, an obvious cubic ZnTiO3 phase appeared
Summary
The use of antibiotics has increased with the development of medicine, fishery, and animal husbandry in recent years. In 2010, Elmolla et al, pointed out that under UV light irradiation with a wavelength of 365 nm, ZnO photocatalysts can decompose AMX by up to 59%, 72%, and 100% under pH = 5, 8, and 11, respectively This indicates that the pH value during synthesis has an influence on the performance of photocatalysis [36]. In 2012, Dimitrakopoulou et al, studied the photocatalysis of commercial TiO2 (P25) to degrade AMX under UVA light source irradiation, indicating that the initial concentration of the AMX solution affects the performance of photocatalysts [31]. In 2016, Belaissa et al, indicated that CuO in the heterosystem of the CuO/TiO2 photocatalyst acted as a sensitizer to absorb longer wavelength light through the synergistic effect They effectively degraded AMX by using simulated sunlight illumination [40]. AMX is the targeted molecule, and various perovskite ZnTiO3 photocatalysts were prepared using a simple sol–gel method under various synthesis conditions to verify their photocatalytic performance
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