Synthesis, characterization and performance of visible light active C-TiO2 for pharmaceutical photodegradation

•Microwave digestion method for C-TiO2 synthesis.•C-TiO2 nanoparticles with ∼50 nm size shows absorbance in the visible region.•Applicability in batch experiments, for visible light catalysis.•Visible light catalysis of mixed pharmaceuticals.

The present paper deals with photocatalytic degradation of carbamazepine and diclofenac by using a modified catalyst with band gap excitations in visible light. The C-doped TiO2 was synthesized using a microwave digestion method from titanium oxyacetylacetate with glucose as the carbon source. The synthesized catalyst was then characterized using Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffractometry (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer. The TiO2 present was in anatase phase and showed significant absorption in visible region. The catalyst was tested for the degradation of carbamazepine and diclofenac under visible light, where complete removal was achieved and the reaction followed first order kinetics. System parameters like catalyst and pollutant concentration, light intensity and time of reaction, were optimized using response surface methodology. In optimum conditions (catalyst concentration of 244 mg/L and light intensity of 7715 lx) 99% removal was achieved.

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