Febio Dalanta, Hendri Widiyandari, Christina Wahyu Kartikowati, Aditya Farhan Arif, Abdullah Malik Islam Filardli, Osi Arutanti
Over the past decades, emerging contaminants in the form of dyes, antibiotics, and pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments have posed significant threats to ecological systems and human health. This study synthesized a Schottky junction Ni-TiOx suboxide photocatalyst via a green sol-gel-solvothermal method using glycerol as a sustainable reducing agent for the degradation of various emerging pollutants under simulated solar light. Incorporating nickel (Ni) and Ti3+ sites effectively narrowed the band gap from 3.20 to 2.68 eV, enabling visible-light-driven photocatalysis. The Ni-TiOx photocatalyst exhibited high removal efficiency for rhodamine B (98.17 %), methyl orange (99.54 %), tetracycline (93.46 %), and ibuprofen (89.31 %) under simulated solar irradiation within 2 h. Kinetic modeling revealed that the RhB degradation mechanism followed the modified Elovich model (R2 = 0.9746) with rate constant ke = 12.1388 mg·g−1·min−1, suggesting a chemosorption-controlled mechanism where the hydroxyl radicals (OH*) were the primary reactive species. The electrochemical analyses confirmed enhanced charge separation due to Schottky barrier formation, which significantly enhanced the photodegradation ability of Ni-TiOx by almost 9 times compared to pure TiO2. Importantly, ecotoxicity evaluations using in silico tests by ECOSAR® and in vitro tests using Chlorella vulgaris indicated that the complete process (2 h) resulted in non-harmful treated water. In comparison, the incomplete process (less than 2 h) can lead to even more toxic byproducts than the parent compound. These findings, including their reusability activity, highlight Ni-TiOx as a promising and sustainable photocatalyst for the solar-driven remediation of emerging contaminants in the aquatic environment. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd
Research Center for Chemistry, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Serpong, South Tangerang, 15134, Indonesia; Department of Physics, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, 57126, Indonesia; Departement of Chemical Engineering, Brawijaya University, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Corporate Strategy, PT Mineral Industri Indonesia (Persero), MIND ID, Jakarta, 10110, Indonesia; Department of Chemical Industrial Engineering Technology, School of Vocational Studies, Diponegoro University, Semarang, 50275, Indonesia
