Removal of metoprolol by means of photo-oxidation processes

In this study, beta-blocker metoprolol was degraded by photocatalysis and photo-Fenton catalyzed by doped TiO2. The effect of two main variables was elucidated, content and type of doping cation (Fe or Cu). The catalysts were synthesized by Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly (EISA) method and their performance was compared with typical Degussa P25. All synthesized materials were found to be mesoporous with a specific surface in the range of 121-242 m(2)/g, they all exhibited anatase phase, and crystallites in the range of 6-10 nm. The use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) allowed to establish not only the presence of the expected Ti4+ but also Ti3+ species. Cu2+ and Fe3+ species were also identified in the doped catalysts. It was found that the addition of Cu and Fe diminished the energy band gap of synthesized TiO2, from 3.20 eV to 2.58 and 2.64, respectively. The content of Cu is directly correlated with this effect. In photocatalysis, the doping of TiO2 did not have an effect of metoprolol degradation rate. This was improved, however, approximately 60% by the synthesized TiO2 compared to Degussa P25. On the other hand, the photo-Fenton-like process catalyzed by Cu-TiO2 exhibited the highest degradation (total removal) and mineralization extent (90%), being faster than the photocatalytic process and the UV-H2O2 system. Another difference between both methods, was the amount and type of intermediates generated. These were identified by LC-MS. Photo-Fenton catalyzed by Cu/TiO2 can be considered as an effective process with high oxidative power in the metoprolol degradation.