title: Sonocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin using synthesized TiO2nanoparticles on montmorillonite.
abstract: TiO2/Montmorillonite (TiO2/MMT) nanocomposite as sonocatalyst was produced by immobilizing synthesized TiO2on the surface of montmorillonite. The characteristics of produced nanocomposite were investigated using XRD, XRF, FTIR, TEM, SEM, EDX, UV-vis DRS and nitrogen adsorption-desorption analyses. The synthesized TiO2and TiO2/MMT samples were applied as catalysts for sonocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP). The performance of the TiO2/MMT was greater than pure TiO2sample in treatment of CIP solution. The degradation efficiency of the CIP by sonocatalytic process was affected by solution pH, catalyst dosage, initial CIP concentrations and ultrasonic power. Degradation efficiency of 65.01% was obtained at the pH of 6, catalyst dosage of 0.2gL-1, initial CIP concentration of 10mgL-1and ultrasonic power of 650WL-1. It was observed that the presence of inorganic and organic scavengers suppressed the performance of sonocatalytic process. The stability of the nanocomposite was studied in several successive experiments, and the degradation efficiency declined only 61.48% after 4 repeated experiments. The main degradation by-products were recognized by GC-MS method to propose the possible sonocatalytic mechanism for the degradation of CIP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey. Electronic address: aydin.hassani@atauni.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Aydin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hassani
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran; Department of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Near East University, 99138 Nicosia, North Cyprus, Mersin 10, Turkey. Electronic address: a_khataee@tabrizu.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khataee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Semra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karaca
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Atatürk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Canan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karaca
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Peyman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gholami
keywords: Ciprofloxacin; Pharmaceuticals; Sonocatalyst; TiO(2) nanoparticles; TiO(2)/MMT nanocomposite