Degradation of tetracycline using photocatalytic membrane reactor with nanocomposite Ag doped clinoptilolite zeolite photocatalyst

A photocatalytic membrane reactor was tested in the Degradation of Tetracycline from water using photocatalyst clinoptilolite zeolite-silver. Photocatalyst clinoptilolite zeolite-silver synthesized using a microwave energy technique. The prepared photocatalyst was authenticated by XRD, FESEM, BET and DRS analysis methods. In this study, the influence of AgO in photocatalytic membrane reactor has been investigated for Tetracycline treatment. The experiments were done to appraise the influence of various empirical factors i.e., pH, photocatalyst dosage and irradiation time on the degradation efficiency. The results showed that optimum conditions for tetracycline degradation were found to be at pH of 9, photocatalyst dosage of 0.8 g/L and irradiation time of 120 min. The point of zero charge (pzc) of photocatalyst clinoptilolite zeolite-silver, the point when the surface charge density is zero, was identified be of 8. The photocatalytic treatment achieved between 50% and 94% of Tetracycline degradation and up to 98% chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal.