Study on the degradation performance of novel molecularly imprinted Nd-TiO2 for oxytetracycline hydrochloride

Abstract

Abstract The objective of the study was to synthesize a novel photocatalyst, referred to as molecularly imprinted Nd-TiO2 (MIP-Nd-TiO2), through the sol-gel method. It rapidly identifies and breaks down oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC). By manipulating the doping ratio of Nd, incorporating imprinted molecules, and regulating the calcination conditions, the molar ratio of Ti to Nd was optimized to 100:1.25, the mass of added OTC was maintained at 0.15 g, and MIP-Nd-TiO2 was synthesized by calcining it for 2 h at 500 had the best degradation performance. Furthermore, the impact of these variables on the photocatalytic efficiency of the MIP-Nd-TiO2 catalysts was thoroughly investigated by varying the concentrations of pollutants and pH. The materials underwent evaluation employing precise characterization techniques, including, XPS, BET, and FT-IR among others. The findings from the photocatalytic experiments revealed that the degradation rates of OTC by MIP-Nd-TiO2, Nd-TiO2, and TiO2 consisted of 91.97%, 76.47%, and 64.34%, correspondingly, after dark adsorption equilibrium and followed by irradiation with 365 nm UV light for 30 min. Specifically, in just 40 minutes, the MIP-Nd- TiO2 adsorption-photocatalytic synergy was capable of achieving a 93.14% degradation rate for OTC. Moreover, an investigation was conducted into the photocatalytic and adsorption selectivity of MIP-Nd-TiO2. To conclude, this study has illustrated the viability of employing photocatalysis and molecular imprinting in tandem, which can be an extremely efficient technique for treating OTC in wastewater.