Efficient visible light-induced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride using CuFe2O4 and PANI/CuFe2O4 nanohybrids

Tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) is widely implemented as a wide-ranging antibacterial drug in medical care and animal husbandry, in spite of having negative effects on the environment and human health. Photocatalytic treatment is one of the popular techniques used to treat TC-HCl in wastewater. In this study, we have used CuFe2O4 and CuFe2O4/polyaniline (PANI) nanohybrids as photocatalysts for the degradation of TC-HCl. The metal ferrite and its nanohybrids were synthesized by co-precipitation method. FTIR, UV-Vis, XRD, and SEM-EDX were used to characterize the synthesized nanohybrids. The optical band gaps were estimated to be 2.74 eV for CuFe2O4, 1.72 eV for 1-PANI/CuFe2O4, 1.66 eV for 3-PANI/CuFe2O4, and 1.31 eV for 5-PANI/CuFe2O4. The photocatalytic performance of the nanohybrids appeared superior than pristine CuFe2O4, and maximum photocatalytic degradation was observed to be 86% within 120 min using 5-PANI/CuFe2O4 as the photocatalyst. The degraded fragments were analyzed by LCMS technique, and a tentative mechanism for the degradation of TC-HCl was proposed.

Automated summary

In this study, CuFe2O4 and CuFe2O4/polyaniline (PANI) nanohybrids were used as photocatalysts for the degradation of TC-HCl. The nanohybrids showed superior photocatalytic performance compared to pristine CuFe2O4, with a maximum degradation rate of 86%. The degraded fragments were analyzed and a tentative degradation mechanism was proposed.