Coupling photocatalysis with ozonation for enhanced degradation of Atenolol by Ag-TiO2 micro-tube

• Ag-TiO2 micro-tube was successfully prepared using cotton fiber as template.
• Photocatalytic ozonation of ATL by Ag-TiO2 is more efficient than TiO2.
• Ag acts as electron acceptor for photocatalysis and decomposition center for O3.
• Ag-TiO2 micro-tube owns excellent stability for photocatalytic ozonation of ATL.

Ag-TiO2 hollow micro-tube was successfully prepared using cotton fiber as template. It was used to photocatalytic ozonation of Atenolol (ATL) in present study (UV/Ag-TiO2/O3). The results showed that 2% Ag-TiO2 possessed the best catalytic performance for ATL mineralization and had a distinct advantage compared with bare TiO2. The variation of ozone concentration confirmed that Ag-TiO2 hybrid not only increased the ozone amount in the solution, but also resulted in a fast decompose rate in the photocatalytic ozontion process. It meant that Ag act as a good photo-generated electron acceptor for photocatalysis and a beneficial decomposition center for ozone. Consequently, the synergistic effect of photocatalytic ozonation was enhanced and the mineralization of ATL was promoted. The recycle experiments proved that synthesized 2% Ag-TiO2 micro-tube owned excellent stability in photocatalytic ozonation coupling system. In addition, the effect of pH value, doping amount of Ag on the ATL degradation was also investigated. It is indicated that 2% Ag-TiO2 is an excellent catalyst for the photocatalytic ozonation of ATL.