Photocatalytic degradation of paracetamol over magnetic flower-like TiO 2 /Fe 2 O 3 core-shell nanostructures

Abstract

Abstract The presence of pharmaceutical residues and their metabolites in water, even in low concentrations, is of significant concern due to their effects on aquatic environment. The application of new recyclable photocatalysts with high photocatalytic activity and stability for water treatment has received increasing attention in recent times. In this work, photocatalytic degradation of paracetamol (PA) has been investigated in aqueous solution over magnetically separable flower-like TiO 2 /Fe 2 O 3 core-shell photocatalysts using 450 W medium pressure mercury lamp. SEM, TEM, N 2 sorption (BET method), XRD, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy and VSM were used to characterize the prepared photocatalysts. Results showed that photodegradation and photomineralization of paracetamol was increased with increasing TiO 2 content in the TiO 2 /Fe 2 O 3 core-shell. GC and GC/MS were used to identify the intermediate products formed during the degradation of paracetamol. 4-Acetamidoresorcinol, 4-acetamidocatechol, hydroquinone, 1,2,4-benzenetriol in addition to aliphatic acids were identified in the photolysate mixture. The 33%TiO 2 /Fe 2 O 3 core-shell photocatalyst showed high photoctalaytic efficiency for the degradation of paracetamol after four repeated cycles which demonstrates the high stability of the prepared photocatalyst. A pseudo first order rate was demonstrated for the photocatalytic degradation process of paracetamol.