Photocatalytic degradation of chloramphenicol in an aqueous suspension of silver-doped TiO2 nanoparticles

In this work, silver-doped TiO2 (Ag/TiO2) nanoparticles were synthesized using a photodeposition technique. The prepared Ag/TiO2 nanoparticles were characterized using TEM, SEM, XRD, and EDX techniques. The characterization of Ag/TiO2 nanoparticles using SEM and EDX techniques revealed the dispersion of Ag metal on the surface of TiO2. The photocatalytic activity of Ag/TiO2 and bare TiO2 in the presence of ultraviolet irradiation was investigated in the removal of chloramphenicol (CAP) as an antibiotic. CAP is a broad-spectrum antibiotic exhibiting activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as other groups of microorganisms. However, it is, in certain susceptible individuals, associated with serious toxic effects in humans including bone marrow depression, particularly severe in the form of fatal aplastic anaemia. The effects of the operational factors, such as doping content of Ag, photocatalyst dosage and calcination temperature were evaluated in the catalytic activity of Ag/TiO2. The results showed that the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2 nanoparticles for the degradation of CAP, can be significantly improved by deposition an optimum amount of Ag nanoparticles (0.96 wt%) in the calcination temperature 300 degrees C. It was found that 900mg/L of Ag/TiO2 is the optimum dosage in the removal of CAP with 20mg/L initial concentration. The highest removal efficiency of CAP (approximate to 100%) at the optimum conditions was observed in 20 min. A mineralization study under optimum conditions showed about 88% reduction in total organic carbon after 120 min of irradiation time.