Advanced photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen using Cu2O/WO3/TiO2 ternary composite under solar irradiation

Acetaminophen (ATM) is an emerging persistent organic pollutant, which has come to the forefront of environmental issues. Herein, a solar responsive cuprous oxide (Cu2O)/tungsten oxide (WO3)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) ternary composite was successfully synthesized. The prepared composite displayed a 92.50% ATM photodegradation % towards 1 mg.L-1 of ATM under 60 min of solar irradiation, which is about a 12.94% improvement compared to the bare TiO2 particles. The main reason is attributed to the effective separation and low recombination rate of the charge carriers. The produced composite exhibited high reusability photodegradation % with 83.00% at the fifth cycle of ATM photodegradation.

Automated summary

In this study, a solar responsive composite material was successfully synthesized, showing a significant improvement in the photodegradation efficiency of acetaminophen (ATM), reaching 92.50%. The composite material exhibited high reusability.