Selective degradation of ciprofloxacin with modified NaCl/TiO2 photocatalyst by surface molecular imprinted technology

The modified NaCl/TiO2 photocatalyst of selected degradation was synthesized by surface molecular imprinted technology with ciprofloxacin (CIP) as the molecular template. The acrylamide (AM), trimethylolpropane acrylate (TMPTA), and 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) were considered to be functional monomer, cross-linking and initiate reagents, respectively. The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV vis DRS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetry (TG) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). Compared with the non-imprinted photocatalyst, the molecular imprinted photocatalyst exhibits higher selectivity and photo-degradation capacity for CIP. The degradation ratio of CIP could reach 70.90% in 60 min under visible irradiation. The selectivity of the MIP photoctalyst enhanced the photocatalytic activity to CIP. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.