Effective photocatalytic degradation of amoxicillin using MIL-53(Al)/ZnO composite

Abstract

A promising hierarchical nanocomposite of MIL-53(Al)/ZnO was synthesized as a visible-light-driven photocatalyst to investigate the degradation of amoxicillin (AMX). MIL-53(Al)/ZnO ultrafine nanoparticles were obtained by preparing Zn-free MIL-53Al and employing it as a reactive template under hydrothermal and chemical conditions. The synthesized nanocomposite (MIL-53(Al)/ZnO) has a low content of Al > 1.5% with significantly different characterizations of the parent compounds elucidated by various analyses such as SEM, TEM, XRD, EDX, and UV–Vis. The effect of operational parameters (catalyst dose (0.2–1.0 g/L), solution pH (3–11), and initial AMX concentration (10–90 mg/L)) on the AMX removal efficiency was studied and optimized by the response surface methodology. A reasonable goodness-of-fit between the expected and experimental values was confirmed with correlation coefficient (R2) equal to 0.96. Under the optimal values, i.e., initial AMX concentration = 10 mg/L, solution pH ~ 4.5, and catalyst dose = 1.0 g/L, 100% AMX removal was achieved after reaction time = 60 min. The degradation mechanism and oxidation pathway were vigorously examined. The AMX degradation ratios slightly decreased after five consecutive cycles (from 78.19 to 62.05%), revealing the high reusability of MIL-53(Al)/ZnO. The AMX removal ratio was improved with enhancers in order ($${\mathrm{IO}}_{4}^{-}$$ IO 4 - > H2O2 > S2O8−2). The results proved that 94.12 and 98.23% reduction of COD were obtained after 60 and 75 min, respectively. The amortization and operating costs were estimated at 3.3 $/m3 for a large-scale photocatalytic system.

Effect of amine groups on the NO adsorptive separation selectivity of FeAl‐BDC‐NH2 MOFs

“…The main characteristic diffraction peaks of Fe-BDC were positioned at 9.21 , 10.44 , and 21.96 , and those of Al-BDC were located at 7.92 , 8.92 , and 17.14 , all of which were consistent with the reported MIL-88B 28 and MIL-53 (Al), 29 and the main characteristic diffraction peaks of Fe-BDC-NH 2 , Al-BDC-NH 2 , and FeAl-BDC-NH 2 were located at 9.21 , 10.36 ; 7.71 , 8.92 , 16.85 ; and 9.29 , 18.37 , respectively, which were in agreement with these peaks reported in the literature, 24 suggesting that all of them were successfully synthesized with the same crystal structure as in the literature. From the PXRD results, FeAl-BDC-NH 2 had a similar crystal structure with FeAl-BDC due to the similar peak positions and heights.…”

Recent advances in removal of pharmaceutical pollutants in wastewater using metal oxides and carbonaceous materials as photocatalysts: a review

“…The visible-light-driven MIL-53(Al)/ZnO hierarchical photocatalyst produced 100% removal of amoxicillin corresponding to an initial amoxicillin concentration of 10 mg L −1 , solution pH 4.5 and catalyst dose of 1.0 g L −1 . 190 Recently, Liu and others 191 reported significantly high degradation efficiency of amoxicillin (93.10%) in wastewater using Bi 2 WO 6 /nano-ZnO (1 : 3) after 120 min in comparison to ZnO and Bi 2 WO 6 . It is anticipated that the reduction in band gap energy of Bi 2 WO 6 /nano-ZnO (1 : 3) could prevent the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers.…”

“…Hence, it is necessary to conduct a large amount of research on the treatment and removal of amoxicillin from wastewater using a variety of photocatalysts before discharging it into the natural aquatic environment. 149–216…”

Novel MIL-53(Fe)/ZnO nanocomposite mediated by persulfate in photocatalytic degradation of sulfamethazine under visible light

“…Afterward, the prepared MIL-53Fe was applied as a reactive template with a low amount to synthesize MIL-53(Fe)/ZnO by the same procedure of preparing MIL-53(Al)/ZnO under hydrothermal and calcination process, as demonstrated in our previous study [26].…”

“…The MOF-derived ZnO has several advantages, involving high surface area, the capacity of its pores to store a significant amount of oxygen, and the availability of active sites resulting in high oxidation performance [25]. In our previous work [26], Zn-free MOF(MIL-53Al) was used to fabricate ZnO with a unique structure. In a continuous and symmetric effort, MIL-53Fe was also chosen, among the diverse MOFs, to develop a novel visible-light-driven photocatalyst with a narrow band gap.…”