Applications of sunlight responsive Fe-Ag-TiO2 composite incorporating in-situ dual effect for the degradation of pentoxifylline

Silver modified TiO2 based immobilized system incorporating in-situ dual effect (photocatalysis and photoFenton) was examined for the degradation and mineralization of an environmentally persistent drug, pentoxifylline (PEN) under natural sunlight. The modified TiO2 was characterized through DRS, XRD, SEM/EDS, TGA, XPS, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy to confirm the distribution of Ag on TiO2 surface. Ag-TiO2-P25 exhibited better degradation efficiency with high rate constant i.e. 0.055 min(-1) in comparison to 0.037 min(-1) (unmodified TiO2-P25). Attempts were made to enhance the degradation efficiency of system by incorporating insitu dual effect in fixed-mode using Ag.TiO2 -P25. Novel clay beads using waste fly-ash and foundry sand were used for Ag-TiO2-P25 immobilization (Fe-Ag-TiO2 composite). The value of rate constant was augmented to 0.132 min(-1) with dual process. The practical feasibility of technique was validated by conducting the degradation of PEN in a solar pilot-scale reactor with total volume handling of 5 L using Fe-Ag-TiO2 composite.