Photocatalytic removal of amoxicillin from aqueous solution using magnetic graphene oxide functionalized with cerium dioxide nanocomposite

Amoxicillin (AMX) is one of the commonly used commercial antibiotics due to its high resistance to bacteria and its large spectrum against a wide variety of microorganisms, which it´s existence in the wastewater from pharmaceutical industries and hospital effluents causes unpleasant odor, skin disorder, and microbial resistance among pathogen organisms, and it can lead to the death of microorganisms which are effective in wastewater treatment. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate of removal efficacy of AMX from aqueous solutions using GO@Fe3O4@CeO2.

In this descriptive study, GO@Fe3O4@CeO2 was synthesized and then used as a photocatalyst for the removal of AMX from aqueous solution. GO@Fe3O4@CeO2 was characterized using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM), SEM-EDX elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) methods. Additionally, the influence of variables including pH (3-11), amount of photocatalyst (0.006-0.04 g), contact time (0-150 min), and temperature (25-55 °C) was assessed on the efficacy of AMX removal. 

The results indicated that removal efficiency increased up to 90 min contact time, 0.02 g of photocatalyst, and at the temperature of 25 °C. The optimum pH for AMX removal was 10.

GO@Fe3O4@CeO2 could be an effective and available photocatalyst for the removal of AMX from industrial wastewater under UV light.