Photodegradation of ibuprofen and four other pharmaceutical pollutants on natural pigments sensitized TiO2 nanoparticles

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in water system have drawn increasing concerns in recent years. TiO2-based photodegradation has shown great potential as a low-cost and sustainable technology in water treatment, however, can only use the UV light range of solar radiation which makes the system less efficient. Dyes have been studied to improve the TiO2 system light-harvesting range, but studies on environmental friendly natural dyes are rare. In this study, a screening method using UV-Vis spectra analysis was carried out on a group of 22 different tropical natural plants for the potential applications on dye-sensitized TiO2 in PPCP treatment. As a result, Begonia Martin's Mystery significantly increased TiO2 photodegradation efficiency toward ibuprofen treatments which is first time reported in literature as our best knowledge. Moreover, the promising discovery of Begonia application in ibuprofen treatment has been successfully applied to warfarin and famotidine treatment. Similar results were expanded to many other Begonia species which indicate that Begonia extracts could be excellent sensitizers for TiO2-based photodegradation of PPCPs. Our discovery suggested that the screening process may potentially open a brand-new way for future TiO2 photodegradation studies before the complex and time-consuming detailed mechanism studies. Practitioner points. Natural dyes were screened as sensitizers for TiO2 photodegradation of ibuprofen. Ibuprofen photodegradation efficiency was increased twice using Begonia Martin's Mystery. The Begonia applications were extended to warfarin, trimethoprim, and famotidine. Promising results were also observed using five other Begonia species.