Enhanced removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) using sunlight-driven photocatalyst (g-C3N4/BiNbO4)

Phuah, Zi Song (2025) Enhanced removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) using sunlight-driven photocatalyst (g-C3N4/BiNbO4). Final Year Project, UTAR.

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Abstract

Oxytetracycline (OTC) is increasingly recognized as an emerging contaminant among pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), posing significant risks to both human health and the environment by potentially disrupting the central nervous and digestive systems. Conventional treatment methods have proven inadequate for degrading OTC due to its unique chemical properties. This study investigates the degradation of OTC using a g-C₃N₄/BiNbO4 composite photocatalyst. The photocatalyst was comprehensively characterized by FESEM-EDX, XRD, FTIR, and UV-Vis DRS to examine its morphology, elemental composition, microstructure, crystal structure, functional groups, and bandgap energy. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of functional groups such as O–H, C–N, and C=N within the composite. UV-Vis DRS analysis determined the bandgap energies of pure BiNbO4 and the optimized g-C₃N₄/BiNbO4 composite to be 2.87 eV and 2.85 eV, respectively. Moreover, photocatalytic experiments revealed that the composite containing 0.3g-C₃N₄/BiNbO4 achieved an impressive removal efficiency of 98% within 180 minutes. These findings underscore the potential of the g-C₃N₄/BiNbO4 photocatalyst as an environmentally friendly solution for degrading various organic pollutants under sunlight irradiation. Keywords: Oxytetracycline, emerging contaminants, g-C₃N₄/BiNbO4 composite, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS), bandgap energy

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