Articles
Publication Date: 2026
Applied Catalysis B: Environmental (0926-3373)385
Photocatalytic removal of Cefixime (CFX) by the synthesized green and reusable Bi2WO6/TiO2/GO ternary photocatalyst was investigated. XPS and Raman peak shifts, and HR-TEM and backscattered electron images were used to confirm the formation of the heterojunction. A photocatalytic reaction-informed neural network (PRINN) with [7 {11 8 4} 1] architecture was trained by a multi-objective genetic algorithm using boundary and initial conditions, governing laws, and an experimental dataset, included in 7 cost functions. Possible inter- and intra-particle electron transfer mechanisms involved in BTG 1 % were investigated. Density functional theory (DFT) computations justified experimental observations of the influence of the initial pH of the reaction mixture. DFT computations were conducted on the structure, bonding and energetics of the complex of the CFX molecule with hydroxyl and superoxide radicals in a cage of explicit water molecules to confirm the scavenger experiments. LC-MS experiments coupled with DFT computation and QSAR predictions were performed to propose a detailed reaction pathway and estimate their toxicities. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.
Publication Date: 2025
Advanced Powder Technology (15685527)36(8)
Bi2WO6/TiO2/ZIF-8 photocatalytic degradation and antibacterial toxicity of degraded methylene blue were studied in this paper. The optimum mass ratio of ZIF-8 to Bi2WO6/TiO2 was determined via comprehensive investigation through photocatalytic experiments, and morphological, structural, and photoelectrochemical characterizations. Operating conditions like initial pH, photocatalyst dosage, initial pollutant concentration, and light intensity were examined. The results were modeled by artificial neural networks, and optimization of operating conditions was performed by a genetic algorithm (GA). The GA optimized a cost function expressed as the ratio of the catalyst consumed to the pollutant degraded (mg/g). This optimization computed optimum conditions as pH of 8.41, photocatalyst dosage of 0.05 g/L, dye concentration of 50 ppm, and light intensity of ∼ 580 W/m2 for 99.9 % removal efficiency at 360 min. Experimentally, 935 mg/g removal with ¬93.5 % removal efficiency was obtained. To study the toxicity of degraded solution, LC-MS analysis coupled with density functional theory and quantitative-structure activity relationship indicated that by-products became more toxic than the initial contaminant, representing the necessity of complete removal of the organic dye before releasing to the environment. Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Klebsiella pneumoniae) bacteria were determined, and the minimum inhibitory concentration was not achieved for the degraded solution. © 2025 The Society of Powder Technology Japan
ZnBi2O4/ZIF-67 S-scheme heterojunction (ZBO/ZIF-67) was successfully synthesized through a solvent-induced process at room temperature for the effective degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl). The catalysts were characterized by XRD, FTIR, XPS, FE-SEM, EDX, TEM, PL, UV–Vis DRS, TGA, EIS, and photocurrent response analyses. Scavenger tests were used to investigate the photocatalytic reaction mechanism under visible light. The photocurrent response was utilized to confirm the enhanced photocatalytic performance in the heterojunction. In antibiotic degradation, the effective use of photocatalytic processes with peroxymonosulfate (PMS) is attributed to the enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The ZBO/ZIF-67/PMS system demonstrated greater degradation capacity compared to the ZBO/ZIF-67 system, with a reduce in reaction time, while ZIF-67 exhibited effectiveness in the Co2+/Co3+ cycle for activating PMS. The optimum operating parameters were obtained by the Central Composite Face-Centered method (CCF) as pH = 5, light intensity = 11.1 mW/cm2, the ratio of photocatalyst load to the TC-HCl concentration = 10 mgCat/mgTC-HCl, and irradiation time = 90 min. The ZBO/ZIF-67/PMS system achieved 93.4 % TC-HCl degradation in just 15 min under visible light. After 90 min of photocatalytic reaction, the ZBO/ZIF-67 system achieved a TC-HCl removal efficiency of 90.4 %, while the ZBO/ZIF-67/PMS system reached 99.6 %. The influence of PMS concentration was examined, showing that 0.5 g/L is the optimal value. The leaching of metal ions, stability, and reuse potential of the ZBO/ZIF-67/PMS system were examined, and environmental safety was confirmed by the reduction in TC-HCl toxicity, demonstrated by OD600 measurements of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and enhanced plant root growth. The results revealed that the catalyst displayed excellent activity over five cycles. This study provides new insights into PMS activation using the ZBO/ZIF-67 heterojunction, potentially expanding strategies for photocatalyst-based PMS activation in degrading antibiotic pollutants in water. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd
