Heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole in water using a biochar-supported TiO2 photocatalyst

The present study reports an effective heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in water using a biochar-supported TiO2 (biochar/TiO2). The biochar was used as a low cost and effective support for TiO2 to lower the recombination rate of electrons and electron holes during photocatalysis, allow efficient attachment of TiO2, increase adsorption capacity and help easy separation of the photocatalyst after use. The biochar/TiO2 showed much higher adsorption of SMX than the commercial TiO2 powder due to the hydrophobic interaction between the biochar and SMX. Particularly this study focused on the effects of water quality and operating conditions on the photocatalytic oxidation of SMX. The addition of low concentration of bicarbonate made drastic enhancement in SMX removal and mineralization while the final effluent showed high biotoxicity. On the contrary, the presence of nitrate exhibited slight enhancement in SMX removal efficiency. The photocatalyst loading and UV irradiation time also played their important roles in enhancement of SMX removal and mineralization. In overall the photocatalytic oxidation of SMX using the biochar/TiO2 at the selected catalyst loading and irradiation time (5 g biochar-supported TiO2 L−1, 6 h) resulted in the high removal and mineralization of SMX and negligible toxicity.