A screening study on seven photocatalysts was performed to identify the best candidate for pharmaceutical products degradation in water. Photocatalysts were deposited as thin films through a sol-gel process and subsequent dip-coating on glass slides. The efficiency of each photocatalyst was assessed through the degradation of methylene blue first, and then, through the degradation of 15 different pharmaceutical products. Two main types of synthesis methods were considered: aqueous syntheses, where the reaction takes place in water, and organic syntheses, where reactions take place in an organic solvent and only a stoichiometric amount of water is added to the reaction medium. Photocatalysts synthesized via aqueous sol-gel routes showed relatively lower degradation efficiencies; however, the organic route required a calcination step at high temperature to form the photoactive crystalline phase, while the aqueous route did not. The best performances for the degradation of pharmaceuticals arose when Evonik P25 and silver nanoparticles were added to TiO2, which was synthesized using an organic solvent. In the case of methylene blue degradation, TiO2 modified with Evonik P25 and TiO2 doped with MnO2 nanoparticles were the two best candidates.

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Phthalocyanines (Pcs) are often used in photosensitization of titanium(IV) oxide, a commonly employed photocatalyst, as such an approach holds the promise of obtaining highly stable and efficient visible light-harvesting materials. Herein, we report on the preparation, characterization and photoactivity of a series of composites based on TiO2 and peripherally modified metallophthalocyanines: either tetrasulfonated or 4,4′,4′′,4′′′-tetraazaphthalocyanines, with either copper(II), nickel(II) or zinc(II) as the central metal ion. Physicochemical characterization was performed using UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, hydrodynamic particle-size analysis, surface-area analysis using N2 adsorption-desorption measurements and thermogravimetry combined with differential scanning calorimetry. The band-gap energy values were lower for the composites with peripherally modified phthalocyanines than for the commercial TiO2 P25 or the unsubstituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine-grafted TiO2. TG–DSC results confirmed that the chemical deposition, used for the preparation of Pc/TiO2 composites, is a simple and efficient method for TiO2 surface modification, as all the Pc load was successfully grafted on TiO2. The photocatalytic potential of the Pc/TiO2 materials was assessed in the photocatalytic removal of sulfamethoxazole—a commonly used antibacterial drug of emerging ecological concern. To compare the activity of the materials in different conditions, photodegradation tests were conducted both in water and in an organic medium.

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