Background & Objective: Antibiotics are considered among the pollutants in water environments with stable effects. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of photocatalytic process using core–shell TiO2 under ultraviolet radiation for the removal of Cefixime antibiotic from aqueous solutions.
Materials and methods: This study was conducted in an experimental-laboratory scale. The effect of factors such as pH (5, 6, 7, 8 and 9), initial concentrations of Cefixime (2-10 mg/L) and concentrations of catalyst (0.5-5 g/L) was surveyed. Sample volume for every step of the experiments was 1000 ml. A batch stainless steel 3L photo catalytic reactor was designed. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by SEM ، XRD and VSM Methods.
Results: Physical characteristics of the Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 revealed that the catalyst particles had the average size of 10 nm. The photocatalytic degradation of Cefixime with UV+ Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 in the optimal condition was 100% (pH =6, retention time= 25 min, Cefixime concenteration= 2 mg/L catalyst dosage= 4 g/L). Synthetic models showed that the process of photocatalytic removal of Cefixime followed the first-order model.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that UV+ Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 process is very effective method for the complete removal of Cefixime antibiotic from aqueous solutions.