Preparation And Photocatalytic Activity Of Hydroxyapatite Supported BiOCl Nanocomposite For Oxytetracyline Removal

School of Chemistry, Faculty of Basic Science, Shoolini University, Solan 173212, Himachal Pradesh, India  

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2016, 7 (4), pp 312-318

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2016.5847

Publication Date (Web): Mar 07, 2016

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: pankajchem1@gmail.com

Abstract

The study investigates photocatalytic activity of hydroxyapatite supported BiOCl (BiOCl/HA) in the presence of H₂O₂. BiOCl/HA was prepared by simple hydrolysis method. BiOCl/HA was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), tunneling electron microscopy (TEM), X- ray diffraction (XRD), energy diffraction X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-visible (UV-vis)analysis. SEM results confirmed the dispersion of BiOCl onto hydroxyapatite. BiOCl/HA exhibited irregular pleats-like structure having average size of 80 nm. The band gap of BiOCl/HA was found to be 3.42 eV.  The solar light was used as radiation source during photocatalysis. Both H₂O₂ and BiOCl/HA had synergistic effect on oxytetracycline removal. The simultaneous adsorption and photocatalysis (A+P) was most efficient process for OTC removal. The photocatalytic degradation of oxytetracycline obeyed pseudo first order kinetics. The effect of process parameters catalyst loading, H₂O₂ concentration, pH and OTC concentration was investigated on photocatalysis. The oxidative removal occurred through hydroxyl radical formation. BiOCl exhibited significant recycle efficiency due to easier separation and stability in reaction solution. Solar/H₂O₂/BiOCl/HA displayed excellent photocatalytic property for degradation of OTC from aqueous solution. 

Keywords

Hydroxyapatite supported BiOCl, H₂O₂, solar light, photocatalysis, oxytetracycline removal.