Enhanced photodegradation of oxytetracycline antibiotic in wastewater by implementing ZnO-loaded carbon fiber

Abstract

The antibiotic oxytetracycline (OCA) exhibits high insolubility in the natural environment, posing a significant challenge for its removal. This study synthesized a porous structure and a high-surface-area carbon fiber, incorporating zinc oxide (ZnO/CFB) for the effective removal of OCA in wastewater. The material characterization revealed exceptional optical and photochemical properties of ZnO/CFB, featuring a reduced band gap energy of 2.7 eV. ZnO/CFB exhibited robust performance in the photodegradation of OCA in wastewater, achieving an impressive removal efficiency of 86.7%. Remarkably, the reduction of total organic carbon (TOC) reached an outstanding 97.5%. LC-MS analysis confirmed the complete oxidation of OCA and its intermediates, transforming them into inorganic substances within 60 min. This study introduces an efficient strategy for eliminating antibiotic pollutants from wastewater, highlighting the potential of ZnO/CFB as an effective and stable photocatalyst for environmental remediation.

Keywords:

• Antibiotic pollutants
• oxytetracycline antibiotic
• wastewater
• ZnO-based photocatalyst

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Authors’ contributions

Trung Hieu Bui: Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Original draft. Dang Manh Le: Formal analysis and Data curation. Duc Anh Dinh: Methodology and analysis. Thi Huong Pham: Conceptualization, Supervision, Review & Editing.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This research is funded by Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under grant number 103.99-2020.67.