photocatalytic removal of ciprofloxacin antibiotic from aqueous medium by applying agi/ag2o nanocomposite: activity test, reaction kinetics, and catalyst reusability

Background: this study examined the removal of ciprofloxacin (cip), which is a very widely used antibiotic, from an aqueous medium by applying agi/ag2o photocatalyst under visible light radiation. methods: agi/ag2o was synthesized conveniently by applying a two-stage precipitation method. the synthesized compound was characterized by x-ray powder diffraction (xrd), fe- field emission scanning electron microscopy (fe-sem), energy dispersive x-ray (edx), and uv-vis spectrophotometry. different parameters including initial ph of the solution, initial cip concentration, reaction kinetics, and catalyst reusability were investigated. results: concurrent use of agi and ag2o caused improved photocatalytic properties in the presence of uv light. the ph and initial concentration of cip affected the process efficiency; 95% efficiency was achieved within 100 min at ph 9. furthermore, the process efficiency was still maintained over 90% after four consecutive cycles. conclusion: the photocatalytic degradation process using agi/ag2o nanocomposite under visible light radiation is a suitable method for removing cip from aqueous media due to its high efficiency and stability.