Article Publication in “Nanomaterials”

The article from Camilo Sanchez (ESR8) and co-authors with the title “Rapid Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of N/TiO2/rGO Nanoparticles for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Pharmaceuticals” was published in Nanomaterials on 11th of November 2022.
 
The article describes the synthesis of nitrogen-doped TiO2 and reduced graphene oxide (N/TiO2/rGO) by an environmentally friendly and cost-effective microwave-assisted method and its application to remove ciprofloxacin, diclofenac, and salicylic acid antibiotic from aqueous media using different irradiation sources. The applied synthesis method showed that materials could be obtained at low temperatures and short reaction times without further thermal treatment. The best photocatalyst was able to remove 95% of the target pollutants under UVA (365 nm), solar, and blue visible light (405 nm) irradiations. Ciprofloxacin and salicylic acid were removed by the synergic effect of adsorption and photocatalytic processes, while diclofenac degradation was achieved solely by photocatalysis. Identification of the photocatalytic mechanism through scavenger agents showed that photocatalytic degradation processes mainly depended on the specific pollutant type, while irradiation sources barely defined the photocatalytic mechanism. On the other hand, changes in irradiation intensity significantly influenced the photolysis process, while photocatalysis was slightly affected, indicating that irradiation spectra are more relevant than intensity.