Amoxicillin photodegradation by nanocrystalline TiO2

Nanocrystalline TiO2, synthesized by sol-gel route and characterized by XRPD, BET and SEM measurements, was applied in the photocatalytic degradation of amoxicillin, using an Osram Ultra-Vitalux® lamp as the light source. Amoxicillin is a semi-synthetic penicillin type antibiotic active against a wide range of grampositive and a limited range of gram-negative organisms. The continuous release of antibiotics and their persistence in the environment may result in serious irreversible effects on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Heterogeneous catalysis, which uses catalysts like TiO2, is a promising route for the degradation of organic pollutants including antibiotics. The effects of initial concentration of catalyst, initial salt concentration (NaCl and Na2SO4), ethanol and pH on the photocatalytic degradation of amoxicillin were studied. The mineralization of amoxicillin was analyzed by ion chromatography as well as by total organic analysis. The catalytic properties of nanocrystalline TiO2 were compared to Evonik P25 catalyst