Degradation and Loss of Antibacterial Activity of Commercial Amoxicillin with TiO2/WO3-Assisted Solar Photocatalysis

In this study, a TiO2 catalyst, modified with tungsten oxide (WO3), was synthesized to reduce its bandgap energy (Eg) and to improve its photocatalytic performance. For the catalyst evaluation, the effect of the calcination temperature on the solar photocatalytic degradation was analyzed. The experimental runs were carried out in a CPC (compound parabolic collector) pilot-scale solar reactor, following a multilevel factorial experimental design, which allowed analysis of the effect of the calcination temperature, the initial concentration of amoxicillin, and the catalyst load on the amoxicillin removal. The most favorable calcination temperature for the catalyst performance, concerning the removal of amoxicillin, was 700 °C; because it was the only sample that showed the rutile phase in its crystalline structure. Regarding the loss of the antibiotic activity, the inhibition tests showed that the treated solution of amoxicillin exhibited lower antibacterial activity. The highest amoxicillin removal achieved in these experiments was 64.4% with 100 ppm of amoxicillin concentration, 700 °C of calcination temperature, and 0.1 g L−1 of catalyst load. Nonetheless, the modified TiO2/WO3 underperformed compared to the commercial TiO2 P25, due to its low specific surface and the particles sintering during the sol-gel synthesis