A comparative study of the photocatalytic efficiency of metal oxide/hydroxyapatite nanocomposites in the degradation kinetic of ciprofloxacin in water

Abstract

The photocatalytic efficiency of the metal oxide-hydroxyapatite photocatalysts prepared by soft chemistry using phosphate rock as calcium and phosphorus precursors has been investigated on the degradation kinetic of ciprofloxacin residues in water under UV-light (HPK125 W Lamp). The nature of metal oxide (TiO2, ZnO, Fe2O3), structure, surface area and pore-size distributions of the catalysts were analyzed by various techniques analyses. Association of nanoscale metal oxide with hydroxyapatite could enhance the sorption properties of the materials and confers them interesting photodegradation properties. The results of the kinetic study revealed that the activities of these photocatalysts were dependent on the oxide surface and the best activity was obtained with TiO2/hydroxyapatite catalyst, which had the largest surface area. The effects of various operational parameters were thoroughly considered in order to achieve highest photodegradation efficiency. A correlation between the nature of associated metal oxide, surface properties, the sorption behavior and the photodegradation capacity of these composites could be establishedd.