Photocatalytic properties of incorporated NiO onto clinoptilolite nano-particles in the photodegradation process of aqueous solution of cefixime pharmaceutical capsule

Abstract

The photocatalytic degradation of cefixime was studied using NiO/nano-clinoptilolite (NiO/NCP) as a heterogeneous photocatalyst under Hg-lamp irradiation. For this goal, nano-particles of clinoptilolite (NCP) prepared via mechanical ball-mill method were ion exchanged, calcined and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Fourier transformation infra red (FT-IR) techniques. The degradation process was monitored during the experimental runs by UV–vis absorption spectroscopy as well as COD and HPLC methods. The best degradation results were obtained at the following optimal conditions: 0.25gL−1 of the photocatalyst containing 13.3% NiO, 50 times diluted cefixime solution at pH 5. The kinetics of the process was well modeled by the first order (Langmuir–Hinshelwood) model.