NOVEL B/ZnO MATERIAL FOR ENHANCED DEGRADATION OF TETRACYCLINE HYDROCHLORIDE IN AN AQUEOUS ENVIRONMENT UNDER VISIBLE LIGHT

Abstract

In this study, the B/ZnO materials were simply synthesized via a Sol-gel
method. The photocatalytic ability of materials was evaluated by degrading
tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). The characteristics of the ZnO and 3B/ZnO
materials were analyzed and evaluated by the Diffuse Reflectance Ultraviolet-
Visible (DR/UV-Vis), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform
Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques. The 3B/ZnO
material had a band gap energy of 3.15eV. It was relatively rough and the
nanoparticles were more compact and had a higher photocatalytic efficiency than
ZnO with the TCH degradation efficiency achieved at 92.28%, and a rate constant
of 0.048min-1
. Thus, the optimal doped B was 3 wt%. The factors that affect the
photocatalytic process such as the initial TCH concentration, the catalyst content,
and the pH solution were comprehensively investigated.