Photocatalytic Degradation of Penicillin v Using Bi2O3/Ag/TiO2 Thin Film in a Spinning Disc Photoreactor under Blue LED Illumination

In this study, a novel Spinning Disc Photo Reactor (SDPR) was designed for the treatment of penicillin v (PV) as objective contaminants under blue Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) irradiation. To this end, a visible light-activated Bi2O3/Ag/TiO2 catalyst thin film was deposited onto the surface of ceramic disc support through a facile sol-gel spin coating technique. The synthesized film is fully characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy-Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS), and Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS)techniques. A Central Composite Design (CCD) was exploited to optimize the operative variables including illumination time, rotational speed, initial PV concentration, and solution flow rate. The PV photodegradation efficiency of 97.67% was achieved at optimal operational conditions involving 80 minutes of illumination time, a rotational speed of 180 rpm, an initial PV concentration of 30 mg/L, and a solution flow rate of 0.8 L/min. Furthermore, the Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L–H) kinetic model fitted the empirical data well. Findings indicated that the developed SDPR can be a prominent alternative technology for the PV degradation process from wastewater.