Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Doxycycline over Titania under Visible Light

Titania, or titanium dioxide, is the most attractive material for light harvesting based studies. It has a unique intrinsic band gap that effectively assists in water splitting and many toxic organic pollutants under sunlight. This study reports the controlled preparation of titania (TiO₂)-based nanostructured materials (NSMs) using surfactants such as tannic acid (TA), decyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), and tetraoctylphosphonium bromide (TOPB). Ultraviolet–Visible spectroscopy (UV–VIS), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, powdered X-ray diffraction (p-XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used to characterize the NSMs. The XRD study showed the high crystallinity of the materials. While a FE-SEM revealed that the as-prepared NSMs have quasi-spherical structures. Further, the as-prepared NSMs were used as a photocatalyst for the degradation of doxycycline antibiotic under ambient conditions. The degradation studies were investigated using different conditions, such as pH, temperature, and amount of doxycycline. The as-prepared photocatalyst showed good degradation efficiency, up to 93% at pH 7. Furthermore, the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the catalyst was improved using a hydrogen peroxide additive. These encouraging findings indicate that such NSMs systems could be used effectively for environmental remediation applications.