AgIO

The presence of antibiotics in water bodies poses severe environmental and health risks, necessitating the development of efficient and sustainable remediation technologies. In this context, photocatalysis emerged as a promising approach, leveraging light energy to degrade organic pollutants. This study introduced a novel Z-scheme SrTiO3/AgIO4 composite synthesized via a solvothermal-sonochemical route, which aimed to enhance the photocatalytic degradation of cefixime under simulated sunlight. Characterization techniques such as field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and transient photocurrent response (TPR) were employed to elucidate the physicochemical and optoelectronic properties of the as-synthesized composite. The SrTiO3/AgIO4 composite degraded 73.8% cefixime in 120 min, which was remarkably higher compared to its individual components. The enhanced photoactivity was credited to the synergistic interplay of both semiconductors within the Z-scheme heterojunction, which promoted effective charge separation and reduced electron-hole pair recombination.