Preparation of N-doped TiO2/Biochar Composite Catalysts and its Application for Photoelectrochemical Degradation of Cephalosporin Antibiotics

Abstract

Many researchers are interested in using TiO2 semiconductor photocatalysts to combat pollution and solve energy shortages. This study proposes a composite of TiO2 and biochar because TiO2 can only use 43 percent of the visible light from sunlight. Meanwhile, nitrogen doping has been used to improve the N-doped TiO2/biochar composite. The N-doped TiO2/biochar can improve the photocatalyst's spectral responsiveness and narrow the forbidden band width. This increases the photocatalyst's ability to absorb visible light. This study compared three different modalities of cephalosporin antibiotic removal with N-doped TiO2/biochar: electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and photo-electro-chemical catalysis. Photoelectro-chemical catalysis was found to be far superior to single electrocatalysis and photocatalysis.