A multidisciplinary approach to the environmental problem of emerging pollution: Synthesis and application of a novel composite photocatalyst and the case study of salbutamol degradation

An innovative photocatalyst was prepared via sol-gel process by combining TiO2 with commercial CaAl2O4 persistent luminescence material (PeL), to act as internal irradiation source. To find the optimized synthetic conditions for enhanced photocatalytic efficiency, a full factorial experimental design (23) was applied, by investigating the degradation of Methylene Blue (MB). Significant samples were characterized by XRD, DRS, SEM-EDS, and BET techniques and then tested for the degradation of Salbutamol as Contaminant of Emerging Concern (CEC). Experimental results were obtained using UV–Vis spectrophotometry, along with a highly specific HPLC-MS/MS method, and confirmed through Ion Exchange Chromatography. A rapid decrease in the pharmaceutical concentration was observed, with a complete depletion after a maximum of 2 h. Furthermore, a preliminary investigation on transformation products suggested that the degradation pathway is influenced by the specific photocatalyst. This novel TiO2/PeL composite material proved to be promising for water decontamination from CECs at environmentally relevant concentrations.