A study on the optimization of photocatalytic removal of enrofloxacin using TiO2 material

Nowadays, antibiotics are used with increasing frequency to meet the needs of human life. The excretion of humans and animals in the livestock industry into the environment generates emerging pollutants with a potentially high risk for cancer, antibiotic resistance, and ecological imbalance. Among strategy for antibiotic removal, advanced oxidation processes such as photocatalysis using TiO2 material is a promising technology. This study is aimed to optimize the operational factors for removing enrofloxacin from water using TiO2 photocatalyst under UV-A irradiation. The experiments were designed with 30 experiments and 6 center repetitions to test the effects of initial enrofloxacin concentration, catalyst dosage, reaction time, and solution pH on the treatment performance. An optimal condition was found at the catalytic dosage of 1.0811 g/L, the initial enrofloxacin concentration of 21.405 mg/L, pH 5.946, and the reaction time of 120 min. Under these conditions, the enrofloxacin was almost eliminated. It can be concluded that the photocatalysis with TiO2 is fully capable of thoroughly treating enrofloxacin in water.