Empowering Adsorption and Photocatalytic Degradation of Ciprofloxacin on BiOI Composites: A Material-by-Design Investigation

Sepideh G Khasevani; Dariush Nikjoo; Cécile Chaxel; Kentaro Umeki; Shokat Sarmad; Jyri-Pekka Mikkola; Isabella Concina

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c06243

Empowering Adsorption and Photocatalytic Degradation of Ciprofloxacin on BiOI Composites: A Material-by-Design Investigation

ACS Omega. 2023 Nov 6;8(46):44044-44056. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c06243. eCollection 2023 Nov 21.

Authors

Sepideh G Khasevani¹, Dariush Nikjoo¹, Cécile Chaxel¹, Kentaro Umeki¹, Shokat Sarmad², Jyri-Pekka Mikkola^{2

3}, Isabella Concina¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University of Technology, 98187 Luleå, Sweden.
² Wallenberg Wood Science Center, Department of Chemistry Technical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Chemical-Biological Centre, Umeå University, SE-90871 Umeå, Sweden.
³ Industrial Chemistry & Reaction Engineering, Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Centre, Åbo Akademi University, FI-20500 Åbo-Turku, Finland.

Abstract

Binary and ternary composites of BiOI with NH₂-MIL-101(Fe) and a functionalized biochar were synthesized through an in situ approach, aimed at spurring the activity of the semiconductor as a photocatalyst for the removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP) from water. Experimental outcomes showed a drastic enhancement of the adsorption and the equilibrium (which increased from 39.31 mg g^-1 of bare BiOI to 76.39 mg g^-1 of the best ternary composite in 2 h time), while the kinetics of the process was not significantly changed. The photocatalytic performance was also significantly enhanced, and the complete removal of 10 ppm of CIP in 3 h reaction time was recorded under simulated solar light irradiation for the best catalyst of the investigated batch. Catalytic reactions supported by different materials obeyed different reaction orders, indicating the existence of different mechanisms. The use of scavengers for superoxide anion radicals, holes, and hydroxyl radicals showed that although all these species are involved in CIP photodegradation, the latter play the most crucial role, as also confirmed by carrying out the reaction at increasing pH conditions. A clear correlation between the reduction of BiOI crystallite sizes in the composites, as compared to the bare material, and the material performance as both adsorbers and photocatalyst was identified.