Comprehensive analysis of NiFe2O4/MWCNTs nanocomposite to degrade a healthcare waste – tetracycline

Abstract

Tetracycline (TC), a commonly used antibiotic for studying bacterial illnesses in living organisms, poses a significant risk to the aquatic environment. Despite various conventional methods having been attempted to remove TC antibiotics from water solutions, they have not proven effective. Consequently, the focus of the research is on the photocatalytic degradation of TC. According to the research, MWCNTs were successfully incorporated into NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles, which reduced the pace at which charge carriers recombined after joining with MWCNTs. Subsequently, the catalyst's efficacy was assessed in a batch reactor by analyzing the weight percentage change of the nanocomposite, the initial concentration of TC antibiotics, the effects of pH and contact time. The identical operational parameters were employed to investigate the degradation of TC using NiFe₂O₄ and MWCNTs as individual pure materials. The findings indicated that the photocatalytic process using NiFe₂O₄/MWCNTs achieved a degradation efficiency of 95.8% for TC at a pH value of 9. This result was obtained after a reaction time of 120 minutes, the concentration of TC solution was 10 mg L⁻¹, with a nanocomposite dose of 0.6 g L⁻¹ of TN 04 and 120 W m⁻². The pseudo-first-order approach was used to estimate the rate at which TC degrades. After four consecutive uses, it was observed that the photocatalysts maintained their original properties, with only a slight decrease of approximately 2.4% in the removal efficiency. The study demonstrated that the NiFe₂O₄/MWCNTs nanocomposite exhibited considerable efficiency in degrading TC. Due to its simple manufacture and useful recovery, it has the potential to function well as a catalyst for the removal and degradation of pharmaceutical organic contaminants.