Enhanced removal of antibiotic residues from wastewater using metal-doped TiO2: mitigating the potential risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to human health

초록

The impact of antibiotic residues on human health and the environment has become a serious global concern. Scientists are developing new technologies to remove antibiotic pollutants from water, wastewater, and soil. This study presents an effective method for removing antibiotic residues from sewage using Cu-doped TiO2 photocatalyst (Cu-TiO2). Ciprofloxacin antibiotic residue (CFA) was selected as the model pollutant for this investigation due to its common use in the healthcare system. The result showed that Cu-TiO2 effectively removes 94.1% and 85.7% of CFA from wastewater under solar and visible light, respectively. According to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model, Cu-TiO2 degrades CFA faster than TiO2, with a half-life of 14.7 min, whereas TiO2 has a half-life of over 69 min. Besides, the doped photocatalyst also presented high reusability, retaining 74.6% CFA degradation efficiency after five cycles and releasing less than 1.8% of Cu ions. Furthermore, this study investigated the effectiveness of the Cu-TiO2 photocatalyst in mitigating health risks associated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and evaluated its practical application.

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