Photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin from water with waste polystyrene and TiO2 composites

• Published in: Heliyon 2024-02, Vol.10 (3), p.e25433-e25433, Article e25433
• Main Authors: Hayri-Senel, Tugba, Kahraman, Ebru, Sezer, Serhat, Erdol-Aydin, Nalan, Nasun-Saygili, Gulhayat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aquatic ecosystems; ciprofloxacin; experimental design; human health; photocatalysis; polystyrenes; response surface methodology; titanium dioxide; wastewater
• ISSN: 2405-8440; 2405-8440
• DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25433

Ciprofloxacin (CIP) is one of the widely used antibiotics with a broad antimicrobial spectrum in the fluoroquinolone type. Its concentration in water bodies has increased over the years due to its frequent use. Since ciprofloxacin in the aquatic ecosystem adversely affects human health as well as other organisms, it must be removed from wastewater. The aim of this study was to develop Polystyrene (PS) and Titanium dioxide (TiO2) composites that can be used as catalysts in CIP removal by photocatalytic process. Waste PS (obtained from disposable cutlery) was used in the synthesis of these composites. In this study, PS-TiO2 composites with different PS content (C20, C50, C80; the numbers in the names indicate the PS percentage in the composite by weight) were synthesized. This is important in terms of the use of one waste in the removal of another waste. This process was optimized using Box-Behnken design, one of the response surface method. Parameters such as the amount of polymer in the composite, pH and initial CIP concentration were studied and their effects on CIP removal were found. The validity and adequacy of the selected model were evaluated according to the relevant statistical data. These are R2 = 0.9751, adjusted R2 = 0.9565, the model's p-value