Photocatalytic degradation of ofloxacin by various nanostructured TiO2 thin films produced via Ti–H2O2 interaction

In this work, a low-temperature method for creating nanostructured TiO₂ thin films with controlled morphologies for the photocatalytic degradation of the persistent antibiotic pollutant ofloxacin in water is presented. A Ti–H₂O₂ interaction was used to produce hydrogen titanate nanowires, which were subsequently converted into three different nanostructures: anatase nanowires by calcined at 450 °C, porous nanorods and hierarchical nanoflowers by treating at 80 °C for 72 h with hot water and sulfuric acid, respectively. Controls over surface area, hydroxyl group contents, and crystal phase composition were made possible by these post-treatments. With a reaction rate constant of 0.72 h⁻¹ and a photocatalytic efficiency of 98 % ofloxacin degradation in 4 h under UV light, TiO₂ nanoflowers outperformed commercial benchmark P25 mixed phase TiO₂ nanoparticle films (0.64 h⁻¹) among the different nanostructures. The mixed anatase-rutile phase, high surface area of 49.1 m²/g, large pore volume of 0.15 mL/g, and numerous surface hydroxyl groups are responsible for the superior performance. These results show that morphology-engineered TiO₂ films can be used to treat water effectively through photocatalysis.