Effective inhibition of antibiotic residues and bacterial pathogens in wastewater using TiO2 metal oxide photocatalyst.

Abstract

Antibiotic residues have become serious health concerns due to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The treatment of antibiotic pollutants in wastewater is necessary for reducing the issue of antibiotic resistance. In this work, the metal oxide photocatalyst titanium dioxide (TiO₂) was evaluated for the removal of the tetracycline antibiotic (TC-A) and the deactivation of E. coli bacteria (E-B) from wastewater. Based on the oxidation process, TiO₂ can successfully degrade TC-A in wastewater with an efficiency of up to 96.4%. It is also employed for the deactivation of E. coli, completely inactivating the bacteria within 30 min. Moreover, after five cycles of reuse, TiO₂ demonstrated high removal efficiencies of over 80% and 95% for TC-A and E-B, respectively. Finally, the proposed mechanism for the removal of TC-A and the deactivation of E. coli using the TiO₂ photocatalyst is presented. This work provides a simple method for removing antibiotic pollutants and deactivating bacteria in wastewater.