Ba-ZnO Nanoparticles for Photo-catalytic Degradation of Chloramphenicol

Abstract

Pristine ZnO (PZO) and 5% barium doped ZnO nanoparticles (BZONP) were prepared by in expensive chemical precipitation method. The techniques used to characterize prepared nanoparticles are X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) analysis. The particle size of PZO and BZONP were calculated using Scherrer equation. The photo-catalytic efficiency of 5% BZONP was studied with photo-degradation of chloramphenicol (CLP) under UVC (254 nm) irradiation in aqueous suspension. Pseudo-first order rate constants (kobs) were found to increase with the decrease in pH. The effect of initial concentration, photo-catalyst loading, light intensity, the effect of pH on the photo-degradation rate was also examined and elaborately discussed. The results showed that BZONP is a better photocatalyst compared PZO. The HPLC and LC/MS were used to identify photo-degradation products.