Enhancement of photocatalytic activity of TiO2 by immobilization on activated carbon for degradation of pharmaceuticals

This work evaluates the photocatalytic activity of bare TiO2 and TiO2 immobilized on activated carbon (TiO2/AC) for degradation of pharmaceuticals. Four selected pharmaceuticals namely amoxicillin, ampicillin, diclofenac, and paracetamol were oxidized using solar irradiation. The TiO2/AC composite was prepared by a temperature impregnation method. Characterization of TiO2/AC by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) revealed successful immobilization of TiO2 particles on activated carbon. Amoxicillin and ampicillin were completely degraded by TiO2/AC, while 89% of amoxicillin and 83% of ampicillin were removed by bare TiO2. Likely, TiO2/AC attained higher removal of diclofenac (85%) and paracetamol (70%) as compared to bare TiO2. Amortization and operating costs of full scale solar photocatalytic reactor were estimated. It was found that TiO2/AC is more economic.