Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Ce and Ag Co-Doped ZnO Nanorods of Paracetamol and Metronidazole Antibiotics Co-Degradation in Wastewater Promoted by Solar Light

In this paper, we report a facile solvothermal synthesis of Ce/Ag co-doped ZnO nanorods that was used as a catalyst for the co-degradation of antibiotic molecules in water. The as-prepared sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (DRX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET). The photocatalytic ability of the Ce/Ag co-doped ZnO nanorods is estimated through the co-degradation of paracetamol and metronidazole in aqueous solution under photocatalytic conditions. The degradation study carried out for a reaction period of 180 min at a free pH found that paracetamol and metronidazole degradation were 97 and 99%, respectively, the catalyst, indicating its excellent photocatalytic ability. The effect of operating parameters such as catalyst dose, initial concentration of paracetamol and metronidazole, initial reaction pH, and nature of light source has been optimized for paracetamol and metronidazole co-degradation as a function of time. The reusability of the Ce/Ag co-doped ZnO catalyst was studied, and its photocatalytic efficiency was found to be unchanged even after five cycles of use. The catalyst powder was characterized by XRD, SEM, and FTIR after photocatalytic testing. The results of XRD, FTIR patterns, and SEM images show that the catalyst's crystal structure and morphological features aren't changed after five runs.