Improved CeMnO3 perovskite framework for visible-light-aided degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride antibiotic residue and methylene blue dye

Water contamination engendered by pharmaceutical effluents and organic dyes is emerged as a serious environmental catas-trophe, causing massive ecological repercussions as well as enduring risks to aquatic life and human health. Hence designing of highly efficient and robust photocatalyst with excellent intrinsic properties for the degradation of pollutants is desirable. In this research, a visible-light-responsive cerium manganese oxide (CeMnO3) perovskite nanomaterial was synthesized via facile citrate sol-gel approach to address the deterioration of tetracycline hydrochloride (TcH) antibiotic and methylene blue (MB) dye residues for the first time in aqueous media. The CeMnO3 nanostructure was characterized through XRD, XPS, FTIR, FESEM, EDS, PL, and UV-Vis spectrophotometer to disclose the catalytic functionalities, crystallographic structures, elemental interaction, structural configuration, surface morphology, and other intrinsic optical features of the material. The CeMnO3 catalyst exhibits eminent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TcH and MB residues under visible light sources attributed to the narrow bandgap energy (2.50 eV) achieved in CeMnO3 perovskite nanomaterial. As-prepared catalysts achieved an optimum efficiency of about 89% and 95% for the photocatalytic degradation of TcH (10 mg/L) and MB (10 mg/L) for 30 mg and 25 mg catalyst dosage in 90 min, respectively. The radical scavenger test revealed that the hydroxyl radical (.OH) and superoxide radicals (.O-2(-))are the chief reactive oxidizing agents in the photocatalytic degradation 2 process. Furthermore, even after three subsequent cycles, the catalyst stays stable and demonstrates an excellent degradation efficiency, validating its potential cyclic capability and chemical stability. The current work proposes an intriguing strategy to fabricate a CeMnO(3 )catalyst with high-performance detoxification of TcH and MB residual compounds which are widely used and frequently reported for their contaminations in the ambient environment.