Photocatalytic Removal Metronidazole from Aquatic Environment Using g-C3N4-TiO2

Through the widespread use of antibiotics including metronidazole, they are continuously released to the environment, while traditional treatment processes unable to remove them. Therefore, they are accumulated in the environment and led to unpredictable risks to human health and ecosystem. In recent years, advanced oxidation processes have been introduced as effective technology for the destruction of pollutants from the aquatic environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of catalyst g-C3N4-TiO2 in the removal of metronidazole from aqueous environment. In this fundamental-applied study, the catalyst g-C3N4-TiO2 was first synthesized. The SEM, EDX and DRS analysis were used to determine the characteristics of the nanocomposite. Then, the effect of factors such as the content of g-C3N4 in the structure g-C3N4-TiO2 catalyst, the initial concentration of metronidazole (10, 15, and 20 mg/l), pH (4, 7, and 10) were investigated. Finally, the mechanism of function of synthesis photocatalyst was investigated by conducting in the presence of radical scavenger agents experiments. Findings: Based on the results of this study, catalyst TC3 shows more photocatalytic degradation efficiency mineralization. Maximum efficiency of this process at optimal conditions (pH=10, C0=10 mg l-1) after 360 minutes was 83%. The results of this study showed that the photocatalytic process based on catalyst g-C3N4-TiO2 is an effective method for removing metronidazole from the aqueous environment, and the use of g-C3N4 effectively enhances the photocatalytic activity of TiO2.