Enhanced disinfection of E. faecalis and levofloxacin antibiotic degradation using tridoped B-Ce-Ag TiO2 photocatalysts synthesized by ecofriendly citrate EDTA complexing method.

Since its use for photochemical water splitting reported first in 1972, TiO2 is one of the most extensively studied photocatalysts for a diverse range of applications. Monodoping or codoping of the catalyst is a proven strategy to enhance the functionality of TiO2 under solar or visible light. However, the use of three or more dopants in the development of more efficient and visible light active photocatalysts has not been investigated widely, especially for microbial disinfection. Boron/cerium/silver tridoped TiO2 photocatalysts with curated amounts of the dopants (B = 1, 2 at.%, Ce = 0.1 at.%, Ag = 0.06 at.%), synthesized by the ecofriendly EDTA-citrate method, were evaluated for the disinfection of water using Enterococcus faecalis under UV-A irradiation and degradation of levofloxacin antibiotic under solar light. The catalyst characterization revealed that the spherical nanoparticles had a crystallite size of ~ 13 nm and bandgap energy values of 2.8-2.9 eV. 2B-0.1Ce-0.06Ag-TiO2 is the best catalyst for microbial disinfection with a log reduction and kinetic rate constant ~ 30 and ~ 4.5 times higher than those values determined for the other codoped or monodoped catalysts, confirming an enhanced performance. Regarding levofloxacin degradation, the best performing catalyst is 1B-0.1Ce-0.06Ag-TiO2 with degradation of 99% and 83% COD reduction in 100 min. The tridoped photocatalysts are very effective in the inactivation of Enterococcus faecalis, thus solving the problem of antimicrobial resistance in waters containing antibiotic residues.