Comparing photocatalytic activity of ZnO and nanospherical ZnO/bentonite catalyst: Preparation, structural characterization and their photocatalytic performances using oxytetracycline antibiotic in aqueous solution

Abstract

Photocatalytic degradation of Oxytetracycline (OTC) in aqueous solution was performed using pure ZnO and ZnO/Bent composites. Both catalysts were synthesized trough a simple one-step chemical precipitation method. The prepared samples were characterized using SEM-EDAX and XRD analysis. Due to the immobilization of ZnO nanospheres upon bentonite surface, 25.67 m2 g-1 of specific surface area was obtained for the ZnO/Bent which lower than the specific surface area of the raw bentonite (112.25 m2 g-1). ZnO/Bent catalyst showed the best photocatalytic performance than ZnO for OTC degradation under UV light.