High-efficient photocatalytic degradation of commercial drugs for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment prospects: A case study of Ag/g-C3N4/ZnO nanocomposite materials

Citation:
Thang, NQ, Sabbah A, Chen L-C, Chen K-H, Thi CM, Viet PV.  2021.  High-efficient photocatalytic degradation of commercial drugs for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment prospects: A case study of Ag/g-C3N4/ZnO nanocomposite materials, 2021. Chemosphere. 282:130971.

Abstract:

Pharmaceutical drugs' removal from wastewater by photocatalytic oxidation process is considered as an attractive approach and environmentally friendly solution. This report aims to appraise the practical application potential of Ag/g-C3N4/ZnO nanorods toward the wastewater treatment of the pharmaceutical industry. The catalysts are synthesized by straightforward and environmentally-friendly strategies. Specifically, g-C3N4/ZnO nanorods heterostructure is constructed by a simple self-assembly method, and then Ag nanoparticles are decorated on g-C3N4/ZnO nanorods by a photoreduction route. The results show that three commercial drugs (paracetamol, amoxicillin, and cefalexin) with high concentration (40 mg L−1) are significantly degraded in the existence of a small dosage of Ag/g-C3N4/ZnO nanorods (0.08 g L−1). The Ag/g-C3N4/ZnO nanorods photocatalyst exhibits degradation performance of paracetamol higher 3.8, 1.8, 1.3 times than pristine g-C3N4, ZnO nanorods, and g-C3N4/ZnO nanorods. Furthermore, Ag/g-C3N4/ZnO nanorods have an excellent reusability and a chemical stability that achieved paracetamol degradation efficiency of 78% and remained chemical structure of the photocatalyst after five cycles. In addition, the photocatalytic mechanism explanation and comparison of photocatalytic drugs’ degradation ability have also been discussed in this study.

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