Title: Photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin by bagasse derived graphene oxide and toxicity test of the degraded products through microbiological assay

Authors: Aditya Kumar Jha; Sukalyan Chakraborty

Addresses: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, 835215, India ' Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, 835215, India

Abstract: Ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic of the fluoroquinolone drug class, is often associated with negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems demanding innovative techniques and materials for treatment before discharge. In the present study, bagasse, a potential solid waste was utilised to treat ciprofloxacin by converting it to graphene oxide (GO) using ferrocene reagent as a catalyst by slow thermal pyrolysis. Characterisation of GO by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) revealed ultra-thin sheet-like layers, while Raman spectroscopy confirmed its high purity and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed its crystalline nature. The synthesised material, when tested for removal of ciprofloxacin through natural solar irradiated photo-catalysis, showed a maximum 81% degradation following pseudo-second-order kinetics. Mass spectrometry confirmed the fragmentation of the antibiotic into lower molecular weight compounds. Further, a microbiological assay of the degraded products on bacterial strains indicated them to be innocuous. The study depicts a circular economic approach to tackling the solid waste disposal problem and wastewater treatment simultaneously.

Keywords: antibiotics; agro waste; bagasse; ciprofloxacin; degradation mechanism; GO; graphene oxide; photocatalysis; photocatalytic degradation; sunlight.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2021.130305

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2021 Vol.70 No.1/2, pp.60 - 85

Received: 20 Nov 2021
Received in revised form: 17 Jun 2022
Accepted: 23 Jul 2022
Published online: 17 Apr 2023 *

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