Preparation of nano N-TiO2/graphene oxide/titan grid sheets for visible light assisted photocatalytic ozonation of cefixime

Abstract

In this research, nitrogen doped TiO2 (N-TiO2) and graphene oxide (GO) were prepared and immobilized on a titan grid sheet by electrophoretic deposition method. SEM, DRS, FT-IR, and N2 adsorption-desorption were used for the characterization of the immobilized N-TiO2/GO nanocomposite. Ability of prepared nanocomposite was studied for degradation of cefixime in water through visible light photocatalytic ozonation process. The effect of operational variables including dosage of catalyst and ozone concentration, pH, initial concentration of the cefixime, light intensity, contact time, inorganic and organic scavengers on the cefixime degradation were evaluated. The results showed that all of the variables have positive effect on the degradation efficiency except initial concentration of cefixime, organic and inorganic scavengers. The GC-MS analysis was employed to identify the intermediate products. The performance of immobilized N-TiO2/GO nanocomposite in photocatalytic ozonation process leading to 80% removal of cefixime is much better than individual adsorption (17%), photocatalytic degradation (29%) and ozonation (51%) processes at the similar conditions. It is expected that N-TiO2/GO can act as an efficient catalyst in the photocatalytic ozonation under the visible light.