Abstract
Herein improved solar light–driven photocatalytic degradation and mineralization of two emerging pollutants as well as recalcitrant beta blockers propranolol (PR) and atenolol (AT) have been demonstrated by metal-free carbon dot/TiO2 (CDT) composite. Hydrothermally synthesized TiO2 has been decorated with electrochemically synthesized carbon dots (CDs) and was well characterized by various analytical techniques viz. XRD, FTIR, Raman, XPS, UV–visible DRS, FESEM, and TEM. The optimized CDT composite, 2CDT (2 mL carbon dot/TiO2), showed ~ 3.45- and ~ 1.75-fold enhancement in the photodegradation rate as compared to pristine TiO2 for PR and AT respectively in 1 hour of irradiation along with complete degradation of PR and AT after 3 hours of irradiation. 2CDT exhibited 76% and 80% mineralization of PR and AT in contrast with 62% and 47% observed by pristine TiO2. Further, the major reaction intermediates formed after degradation have been identified by HPLC/MS analysis, confirming more than 99% reduction of the parent compound for both PR and AT. Reusability of the optimized catalyst also showed successful degradation up to 3 cycles, showing reduction abilities of 97%, 95%, and 94% for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cycle respectively. The enhanced degradation and mineralization efficiency of the 2CDT composite could be attributed to the excellent photosensitizer and electron reservoir properties of the CD along with upconverted photoluminescence behavior. The present study unlocks the possibility of using metal-free, facile CDT composite for effective degradation and mineralization of widely used beta blockers and other pharmaceuticals.
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Acknowledgements
P. R. is thankful to UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, University Grants Commission, for the grant support and financial assistance. A. P. is thankful to the Department of Chemistry, SPPU, Pune, for laboratory facilities. The authors are thankful to the Central Instrumentation Facility, Department of Chemistry, SPPU, Pune, and Department of Physics, SPPU, Pune, for the instrumental facilities. A. P. gratefully acknowledges SPPU for financial support. The authors are also thankful to IISER Pune for providing HRTEM characterization facility. A. P. is thankful to Dr. Nisha Sharma, DSK PDF, SPPU, Pune, for fruitful discussions regarding intermediate studies.
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The authors are thankful to the UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, University Grants Commission (Grant No. CSIR–IC–/MSRSR-15/CSR-223/2017–18/1304) and UPE (II) grant under UGC, for financial support.
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Amruta Ponkshe was involved in designing the methodology, material synthesis, conducting experiments, and original manuscript preparation. Dr. Pragati Thakur was involved in conceptualizing the research, providing the resources, guidance, reviewing, revising and editing the manuscript, and supervising the research work.
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Ponkshe, A., Thakur, P. Solar light–driven photocatalytic degradation and mineralization of beta blockers propranolol and atenolol by carbon dot/TiO2 composite. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 15614–15630 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16796-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16796-w