Preparation And Photocatalytic Activity Of Hydroxyapatite Supported BiOCl Nanocomposite For Oxytetracyline Removal

The study investigates photocatalytic activity of hydroxyapatite supported BiOCl (BiOCl/HA) in the presence of H2O2. BiOCl/HA was prepared by simple hydrolysis method. BiOCl/HA was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), tunneling electron microscopy (TEM), X- ray diffraction (XRD), energy diffraction X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-visible (UV-vis)analysis. SEM results confirmed the dispersion of BiOCl onto hydroxyapatite. BiOCl/HA exhibited irregular pleats-like structure having average size of 80 nm. The band gap of BiOCl/HA was found to be 3.42 eV. The solar light was used as radiation source during photocatalysis. Both H2O2 and BiOCl/HA had synergistic effect on oxytetracycline removal. The simultaneous adsorption and photocatalysis (A+P) was most efficient process for OTC removal. The photocatalytic degradation of oxytetracycline obeyed pseudo first order kinetics. The effect of process parameters catalyst loading, H2O2 concentration, pH and OTC concentration was investigated on photocatalysis. The oxidative removal occurred through hydroxyl radical formation. BiOCl exhibited significant recycle efficiency due to easier separation and stability in reaction solution. Solar/H2O2/BiOCl/HA displayed excellent photocatalytic property for degradation of OTC from aqueous solution.