Title : Photodegradation of tetracycline using ZnO/Fe2O3 nanocomposite
Abstract:
Tetracyclines (TC) are a class of broad-spectrum antibiotics widely employed to treat various human and animal bacterial infections. Due to their incomplete adsorption and partial metabolization by humans and animals, more than 70% of the TC used for pharmacological treatment are excreted by feces and urine in zootechnical liquid waste and in municipal wastewaters. In order to remove this antibiotic from a pharmaceutical industry wastewater zinc oxide (ZnO) and iron oxide Fe2O3) was developed and its photocatalytic properties were investigated. ZnO/Fe2O3 Nanocomposite was characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Brunauer−Emmett−Teller (BET) analysis. The performed photocatalytic experiments clearly demonstrated that the ZnO/Fe2O3 composite catalyst exhibited excellant photocatalytic activity to remove TC with yields as high as 99% , after 20 min contact time, at 2,2 mg/l ZnO/Fe2O3 concentration at a power of 34 W/m at 22 Oc at a Ph OF 6 The presence of iron oxide in the structure of the catalyst was enhanced the surface area and the pore volume, and an optimize photodegradation yield was detected. The nanocomposite was reused 30 times with photodegradation yields as high as 98 and 99% .
