Removal of metformin from aqueous solution using Fe3+ doped TiO2 nanoparticles under UV irradiation

In this work, a photocatalytic process was used for removing metformin as a widely prescribed drug to reduce blood sugar in type 2 diabetes. Photocatalytic processes are one of the most common oxidation processes in degrading organic compounds. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of Fe3+ doped TiO2 nanoparticles in degrading metformin in synthetic wastewater. Therefore, in the first step, Fe3+ doped TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol-gel method and characterized using X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and pH((PZC)) techniques. Then, the effects of parameters, such as the initial concentration of metformin (10-45 mg/L), catalyst dose (25-75 mg/L), pH (3-11), and time (30-150 min), were studied on the photocatalytic degradation of metformin. Results showed that by increasing the experimental parameters, including pH, catalyst dose, and contact time, the nanoparticle removal efficiency increased. Overall, these findings indicated that under optimum conditions, including pH = 11, nanoparticle dose of 75 mg/L, and contact time of 150 min, photocatalytic degradation can remove 93.8% of metformin with an initial concentration of 35 mg/L. Moreover, Fe3+ doped TiO2 nanoparticles with UV light (as a photocatalytic treatment system) have good efficiency in degrading metformin.