Photocatalytic Degradation of Co-amoxiclav Antibiotic Using Ag2O/GO/TiO2 Nanocomposite From Aqueous Solutions

Background: In this study, the removal of Co-amoxiclav antibiotic from aqueous solutions was investigated using Ag2O/GO/TiO2 nanocomposite during a photocatalytic process.Method: The effect of pH parameters (11-3), time (120 min), initial concentration of antibiotics (5-50 mg/L) and dose of nanocomposite (0.04-0.01 g) in removing the studied antibiotic was investigated. During the experiments, a UV lamp was used to study the photocatalytic degradation, and the remaining concentration of co-amoxiclav and cephalexin antibiotics was determined by UV-VIS spectrophotometer.Results: The results demonstrated that the optimal parameters for the degradation of co-amoxiclav utilizing the nanocomposite are as follows: pH 9, nanocomposite dosage of 0.02 g/L, a reaction time of 60 min, resulting in a removal efficiency of 66.92%.Conclusion: This study showed a moderate efficiency of nanocomposite in removing antibiotics, which can be of interest in the research on development of nanotechnology in removing pharmaceutical compounds from water. However, more attention should be paid to the effects of their residual nanomaterials on the environment.