Efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline by rod-like CoFe₂O₄/MWCNTs nanocomposite as a recyclable photocatalyst: a comprehensive study

Tetracycline (TC), a common antibiotic used to study bacterial illnesses in living organisms, is also exceedingly dangerous to the aquatic environment. Numerous traditional techniques are applied to remove the TC antibiotics from the water solution. However, these procedures have not helped to get rid of TC antibiotics. So, in this work, photocatalytic TC degradation has been considered. Hydrothermal synthesis was used to create the CoFe2O4/MWCNTs nano-composite, and various techniques were used to characterise it. The characterisation experiments revealed that multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are successfully incorporated into cobalt ferrite spinel (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles and this limits the rate at which charge carriers recombine after combining with MWCNTs. The effectiveness of the catalyst was then evaluated in a batch reactor using the weight percentage variation of the nano-composite, specifically TC 0.5, TC 01, TC 02, TC 03, and TC 04, with constant pH 7, with TC concentration of 0.05 g/L and nano-composite dosage of 0.6 g/L for 120 min under 120 W/m2 of visible light. The same operational settings were used to study the TC degradation using CoFe2O4 and MWCNTs as individual pure materials. According to the findings, using CoFe2O4/MWCNTs with a weight percentage ratio of 1:4 (TC 04) increased the photocatalytic degradation efficiency to 90.00% compared to pure materials. After being utilised three times in a row, the photocatalysts were as-produced, and it was discovered that there was an approximate 2.7% decrease in removal efficiency. As a result of its comparatively straightforward synthesis, high stability, and high potential for recycling, CoFe2O4/MWCNTs nano-composite, specifically, TC 04, demonstrated a respectable efficiency in the TC degradation. Therefore, this material will make it possible to eliminate and degrade pharmaceutical organic contaminants.