Nanocomposites and nanomaterials

 Photocatalytic activity of nanosized TiO2/Al2O3 and TiO2/MgO composites synthesized by ultrasonic method in the decomposition of metronidazole
Zabolotnii Ye.V., Zazhigalov V.O., Kotynska L.Y., Tsyba M.M.

Institute for Sorption and Problems of Endoecology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
03164, Kyiv, General Naumov st., 13.
E-mail: evgeniy2019q@ukr.net

One of the promising methods of decomposition of drugs, especially antibiotics, such as metronidazole, which contaminate water sources, is the photocatalytic destruction of these substances on heterogeneous catalysts, among which TiO2 is one of the most popular. However, this catalyst has a number of disadvantages, so the intensive search of the systems with improved characteristics on the base of complex oxides composition (including TiO2) and the methods of their synthesis attracts the attention of the most scientific lab [1,2].
The ultrasonic synthesis (UST) of the samples TiO2/Al2O3 and TiO2/MgO with a molar ratio of 1: 1 in aqueous medium was realized in this study. Photocatalytic destruction of metronidazole (MNZ, C = 0.015 g/l) in aqueous solution was investigated under UV irradiation of the solution. The concentration of MNZ was determined at adsorption band with maximum at 320 nm. Concentration of the MNZ was determined after each hour of the reaction at maximum time of exposure equal to 5 hours. 
It was shown that UST permits to obtain the samples with larger specific surface area and total pore volume than the initial oxides mixtures. It was established that the treated system TiO2/MgO = 1:1 demonstrates there the significantly higher photocatalytic activity (Kd) and the degree of metronidazole photodegradation (G) under the action of UV light than the modified system TiO2/Al2O3 = 1: 1.

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