UV-A light irradiated photocatalytic performance of hydrothermally obtained W doped BaZrO3 catalyst against the degradation of levofloxacin and tetracycline antibiotic

Abstract

In this work, BaZrO3 semiconductor was synthesized hydrothermally and tungsten (W) was doped into the structure to enhance the photocatalytic activity by reducing the band gap energy of BaZrO3. BaZrO3/W was produced using different W ratios (5−15 wt%). Photocatalytic performance of levofloxacin (LV) and tetracycline (TC) degradation was inquired under UVA and visible light irradiation. BaZrO3/W/15 and BaZrO3/W/5 photocatalysts exhibited best degradation for LV (93.4 %) and TC (94.9 %), respectively. To investigate structure of the catalysts, XRD, SEM-EDX, and XPS analysis were examined. Characterization results proved the existence of W in BaZrO3 structure. The rate constant (kapp) was calculated by using Langmuir-Hinshelwood equation. The kapp values were achieved as 1.27*10−2 min-1 and 0.46*10−2 min-1 for LV, while 1.32*10−2 min-1 and 1.01*10-2 min-1 for TC under UVA and visible light, respectively. According to stability results, after fourth cycle LV degradation was found as 38.9 %, while TC degradation was obtained as 50.2 %.