Removal pharmaceutical carbamazepine from wastewater using ZnO-TiO2-MXene heterostructural nanophotocatalyst under solar light irradiation

ZnO-TiO2-MXene heterostructured nanophotocatalyst was produced to photodegrade hazardous pharmaceutical in an aqueous medium during simulating sunlight. The obtained photocatalyst was characterized utilizing XRD, FTIR, FESEM, UV-vis DRS, TEM, and BET. The crystal size measurement for ZnO-TiO2-Ti3C2 is 55.4 nm, which displayed in the XRD result. The synthesized ZnO-TiO2-MXene heterostructured nanophotocatalyst displayed good performance in the elimination of carbamazepine molecules under optimal circumstances, with removal efficiency of 99.6 percent. The synthesized ZnO-TiO2-MXene photocatalyst was effectively activated under pH = 7.0. The TiO2-MXene increased carbamazepine decomposition effectiveness on the ZnO photocatalyst by boosting photoexcited transportation of e(-)/h(+) couples and reduced the recombination rate. Furthermore, despite multiple cycles using ZnO-TiO2-MXene photocatalyst exhibited incredible photocatalytic performance and amazing durability. Thus a proposed nanoheterojunction photocatalyst could be employed in a water treatment facility to reduce the hazards of pharmaceutical waste in the aqueous medium. Copyright (c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Latest Developments in Materials & Manufacturing.

Automated summary

A ZnO-TiO2-MXene heterostructured nanophotocatalyst was synthesized to photodegrade hazardous pharmaceutical in an aqueous medium under simulated sunlight. The synthesized photocatalyst exhibited excellent performance in carbamazepine degradation, with a removal efficiency of 99.6%. It was effectively activated at pH = 7.0 and showed remarkable photocatalytic performance and durability.