CuO/ZrO2 Nanocomposites: Facile Synthesis, Characterization and Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline Antibiotic

Different antibiotic drugs are widely present in the environment for the treatment of bacterial infections. Overuse of antibiotics leads to the accumulation of these drugs in water systems. Removing antibiotics-based pollutants from water is essential. Nanoscience and nanotechnology can be very helpful in this field. In this work, CuO/ZrO2 nanocomposites was prepared via the simple and facile method. The prepared samples were analyzed X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, and UV-Vis analysis. The results indicate the high potential of synthesized nanocomposites made in photocatalytic degradation. The prepared CuO/ZrO2 Nanocomposites degrades 96.4% of Tetracycline antibiotic under ultraviolet light irradiation after 120 min. The effect of CuO/ZrO2 nanocomposites dosage and solution pH was studied. It was found that the photocatalytic performance of CuO/ZrO2 nanocomposites can be improved via increasing concentration until optimal dosage (0.8 g/L) and in a higher dosage than 0.8 g/L no significant improvement was observed. Also, the results confirmed that the photodegradation of tetracycline can be elevated via increasing pH.