Synthesis, characterization and degradation of tetracycline drug in wastewater using plant-based ZrO2 nanoparticles

This research study investigated the capacity of Zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles obtained from plant-mediated-co-precipitation reaction and calcination at 500 °C, as viable photocatalyst, for the removal of tetracycline from water. The new photocatalyst was characterized by Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis.) spectroscopies, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-rat diffraction soectroscopy (XRD) and Brunnauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The photocatalyst achieved 99.97% degradation efficiency for tetracycline in wastewater. In addition, the degradation process of the photocatalyst followed first-order-kinetic order and Temkin isotherm model respectively. Thus, this new photocatalyst from the plant source provided an environmentally-friendly mediation in the photocatalyic degradation process for the successfully removal of the pharmaceutical waste and also prevented secondary pollutants occurences.