Green Synthesis of Silver-Doped Titanium Dioxide Nanostructures for Acetaminophen Degradation Under Solar Radiation

Objective: In this paper, the photocatalytic degradation of acetaminophen was evaluated using silver-doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles in a cylindrical-parabolic composed photoreactor. Materials and methods: Titanium dioxide was synthesized via green synthesis using Cymbopogon citratus leaf extract and doped by silver photodeposition. Results and discussion: Morphological information shows that large agglomerates of approximately 49 nm can be attributed to the strong interaction between nanoparticles and their polycrystalline nature. The photodeposition of metallic silver reduces the surface effects, allowing a decrease in the electrostatic interaction and diameter size of the titanium dioxide, as well as the optical properties due to surface poising during the reduction of silver ions to metallic silver. The photocatalytic activity was performed to degrade acetaminophen as the drug model under visible-light radiation. The results are promising, with superior photodegradation of acetaminophen of approximately 37% and 11% for unmodified titanium dioxide and silver-doped titanium dioxide (0.75 at%) nanostructures compared to the commercial photocatalyst, respectively. Conclusions: Accordingly, the potential photocatalytic application of silver-doped titanium dioxide nanostructures is highlighted and represents a promising alternative for the photodegradation of organic compounds from wastewater eluents.