Removal of Norfloxacin antibiotic from wastewater by adsorption onto SnS 2 followed by photocatalysis

Abstract

Abstract Antibiotic remainders found in the river water of many countries have been a significant threat to the environment and human health. Herein, the removal of Norfloxacin antibiotic from the aqueous medium has been reported. We successfully synthesized SnS2 nanoplates and studied the removal of Norfloxacin aqueous medium by adsorption followed by photocatalysis process using SnS2. The presence of pores on SnS2 surface and excellent photo-induced charge generation ability under solar light illumination makes it a potential material for the degradation of Norfloxacin from an aqueous medium. 80% of Norfloxacin was degraded in 130 minutes, out of which 36.7% was removed in 20 min by the adsorption process and the rest was degraded in 110 min photo catalytically. The scavenger experiments were also performed to determine the reactive species responsible for the photodegradation. The results identified that the holes play a dominating role in the photodegradation of Norfloxacin by SnS2 in the aqueous medium. Our study has established SnS2 as a promising material for the removal of water pollutants, which may be a pathway to protect the environment from antibiotic pollution in river water.