Enhanced visible light energy harvesting and efficient photocatalytic antibiotic drug degradation over egg albumen mediated Sr doped Fe2O3 nanoparticles

In this research work, a green synthesis approach was utilized to synthesize Sr doped Fe2O3 NPs and Fe2O3 NPs using Egg Albumen with corresponding iron nitrates being precursors. Sr doped Fe2O3 served as a nanophotocatalyst with effective photocatalytic activity and steadiness. The Sr doped Fe2O3 NPs and Fe2O3 NPs photocatalyst was characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, TEM, and UV-visible spectroscopy. Integrating the Sr2+ into the Fe2O3 crystal lattice can significantly broaden the visible region, possibly due to the lowered energy bandgap through the doping energy level created under the conduction band and extended secondary usage wavelength visible light-triggered the photocatalytic efficiency. The synergistic impact between effective sun energy harvesting and charge separation significantly improves photocatalytic activity for TC (Tetracycline) drug degradation under visible light irradiation. The Fe showed high catalytic activity (80%) while Sr/Fe contributed up to 85% in 1 h under visible light, attributed to its narrow range of bandgap energy (similar to 2.2 eV). The rate constant of Sr/Fe was 1.15 times higher than Fe and hence higher photodegradation. A plausible mechanism of the Sr doped Fe2O3 NPs photocatalytic behavior indicated that surface generated reactive oxygen species, together with strong oxidizing ability, were responsible for the degradation of TC antibiotic drugs into mineral acids like CO2, H2O some other small molecules.

Automated summary

In this research, Sr doped Fe2O3 NPs and Fe2O3 NPs were synthesized using the green synthesis approach with Egg Albumen as the precursor. The Sr doped Fe2O3 NPs showed effective photocatalytic activity and stability as a nanophotocatalyst. Integrating Sr2+ into the Fe2O3 crystal lattice widened the visible region and improved the photocatalytic efficiency.