Chitosan Incorporated Nickel Ferrite Photocatalyst for Complete Photocatalytic Degradation of Ciprofloxacin, Ampicillin and Erythromycin in Water

Incomplete elimination of antibiotics like ciprofloxacin (CIP), erythromycin (ERY) and ampicillin (AMP) in treated water is a serious problem. Nickel ferrite integrated in chitosan (NiFe2O4@Chitosan) was prepared as a photocatalyst to eliminate CIP, ERY and AMP in water completely. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) result of NiFe2O4@Chitosan showed a diffraction pattern with a crystallite size of 21.30 nm. The scanning electron micrograph (SEM) unveiled the surface to be rough with patches showing particles with irregular shapes. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area is 14.30 m(2)/g with a magnetic hysteresis loop showing a magnetization of 10.063 emu/g. NiFe2O4@Chitosan completely removed CIP, ERY and AMP from the water system in a process that may be described as photocatalytic with minimal adsorption. The highest adsorption capacity was 11.10 +/- 0.80 % (ERY), while the least was 03.50 +/- 0.40 % (CIP). The role played by reactive oxygen species in the degradation of the antibiotics may be described in the order OH > O-2(-) > h(+). The regeneration capacity of NiFe2O4@Chitosan remained >80 % with results up to the 15th regeneration cycle, with a performance which compared favourably with previously reported photocatalysts.