Nanocomposites and nanomaterials

TiO2-based nanocomposites for antibiotic degradation in aquatic systems
Kutuzova A.S.1, Dontsova T.A.1
1 Department of Technology of Inorganic Substances, Water Purification and General Chemical Technology, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
Prospect Peremohy, 37, Kyiv-03056, Ukraine. 
E-mail: kutuzova.anasta@gmail.com

Recently, the thorny issue of water pollution by pharmaceuticals and mainly by antibiotics has been raised worldwide. Pharmaceutical industry growth in developing countries and increased drug consumption in developed countries together with inadequate wastewater treatment have led to the significant pollution of aquatic systems [1]. Such antibiotics as sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and ciprofloxacin have been detected in surface waters, groundwater or tap water in 47, 29 and 20 countries, respectively [2].
Since conventional processes at wastewater treatment plants are not efficient enough to biodegrade antibiotics, more effective methods should be applied, for example, advanced oxidation processes. Heterogeneous photocatalysis using TiO2 as a photocatalyst is very promising due to unique properties of the material. 
However, commercial application of TiO2 is still limited by its insufficient photoactivity. Therefore, new heterogeneous photocatalysts based on TiO2 should be developed. For example, ternary TiO2-SnO2 nanocomposites doped with rare earth metals have potential to increase material surface area and decrease recombination rate of the charge carriers. Thus, creation of such a system will lead to the efficient photocatalytic performance of the nanocomposites not only under UV light, but also under solar irradiation.

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2.	aus der Beek T., Weber F. A., Bergmann A., Hickmann S., Ebert I., Hein A., Küster A. Pharmaceuticals in the environment–Global occurrences and perspectives // Environ Toxicol Chem.-2016.-35, N 4.-P. 823-835.
3.	Colpani G. L., Zanetti M., Zeferino R. C. F., Silva L. L., de Mello, J. M. M., Riella H. G., Padoin N., Fiori M. A., Soares C. Lanthanides effects on TiO2 photocatalysts // Photocatalysts–Applications and Attributes.-2019.-P. 81-98.