Photocatalytic Degradation of Amoxicillin Drug using ZnO/CdS Nanocomposite for Aqueous Solutions by using AOPs

The hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO/CdS nanocomposite studied for photocatalytic degradation of Amoxicillin (AMX) drug. The physical and chemical properties of the prepared ZnO/CdS were characterized using several analyses such as TEM, FE-SEM, TGA, and EDX. The photodegradation of Amoxicillin (AMX) drug was studied by employing UV-Vis light under several conditions in the presence of ZnO-CdS nanocomposite. Influence of several parameters such as AMX concentration (۱۰-۸۰ mg/L), mass of nanocomposite (۰.۱-۰.۴ g), and regeneration of ZnO-CdS nanocomposite was studied and optimized. All experiments were carried out under the most optimum conditions, which included a drug concentration of ۳۰ mg/L, a light intensity of ۱.۲ mW/cm۲, and a solution pH of ۶.۸. The results showed that the photocatalytic efficiency rose with reducing concentration of AMX (۹۵.۹۹%-۵۳.۱۲%) when concentration increased from ۱۰ to ۸۰ mg/L. The photocatalytic degradation increased when the weight of the ZnO-CdS nanocomposite increased (۴۴.۴۳%-۹۸.۹۹%). It was observed that the photocatalytic efficiency of AMX was ۸۰.۸۶%-۷۲.۷۷.۸۵% for the first to fourth cycles. This indicates the best stability of nanocomposites and could be potentially useful in practical batch degradation.

Keywords:

Nanocomposite , Amoxicillin , Drug , Pollutant , Hydrothermal