Synthesis of porous titanium heterostructure MOF for the photocatalytic degradation of amoxicillin from wastewater

Abstract

Antibiotic usage for medical treatment and its production has drastically increased its concentration level in the aquatic environment. Amoxicillin is a well-known bacterial antibiotic used widely in the world. The heterostructured MOF HMF-2 is synthesized by integrating MIL-125 and NH2-MIL-125 via the refluxing method. The physicochemical properties of all synthesized MOFs were studied using XRD, FE-SEM, FT-IR, N2 physisorption, UV-Vis (DRS), XPS, and PL. XRD indicates synthesized MOFs having intense peaks exhibiting crystallinity and framework nature. BET surface area of MIL-125, NH2-MIL-125, and HMF-2 are found to be 986, 1267, and 1102 m²/g respectively indicating their microporous nature. NH2-MIL-125 integrated with MIL-125 decreases the bandgap of HMF-2 thereby extending its visible light absorption. The visible light degradation of Amoxicillin in an aqueous solution is studied with MIL-125, NH2-MIL-125, and HMF-2 for a period of 1 to 7 days. HMF-2 is found to show better activity in comparison with the individual MOFs because of more efficient charge separation. This study intends to give new directions for the sustainable degradation of antibiotics from wastewater.