TiO₂ Deposited on Activated Sewage Sludge for Effective Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline

Abstract

Titanium isopropoxide and sewage sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant were used as precursors to synthesize TiO2 deposited on activated sludge (TiO2/AS) using the sol‐gel method. The sewage sludge acted as a novel substrate to increase the surface area and as source of metals and non‐metals, which doped into the TiO2 lattice to enhance its photocatalytic activity. Thus, the synthesized TiO2/AS exhibited a narrow bandgap energy (2.61 eV) and a high surface area (138.7 m2g−1) for increased photocatalytic degradation with high mineralization of tetracycline in an aqueous environment. The study also demonstrates that the kinetics of photocatalytic tetracycline degradation by TiO2/AS follows a pseudo‐first‐order model. The optimized pH for the photocatalysis by TiO2/AS was 8.