Wet-chemical preparation and physicochemical characterization of nanostructured Zn-Bi₂O₃/CeO₂ composite: A visible-light-driven catalyst for the annihilation of pharmaceutical pollutant

A modified co-precipitation technique assisted with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant was used to synthesize a nanostructured and zinc-doped mixed metal oxide (Zn-Bi₂O₃/CeO₂) composite. Using X-ray diffraction (XRD), the synthesized nanocomposite was studied in terms of its crystal structure, grain size, percentage crystallinity, and percentage porosity. Energy dispersive X-ray elemental analysis (EDX) was used to ascertain the chemical composition, SEM to confirm the creation of nanostructure material, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to extract the existing functional groups. Investigation of light harvesting properties (UV/Vis) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) reveals that the doped composite exhibits a band gap driven by visible light and remarkable thermal stability at high temperatures. The pH value at which a material's net charge is zero, known as pH_pzc, is 7.93 for the doped mixed metal oxide composite. The Zn-Bi₂O₃/CeO₂ nanocomposite effectively eliminates 98.4 percent of the quinolone antibiotic (levofloxacin) via a mechanism that integrates sorption and photocatalytic degradation induced by visible light. To determine the optimal circumstances for the efficient operation of a photocatalyst, we experimented with different time intervals, beginning drug concentrations, catalyst dosages, operating temperatures, and pH levels. Reusability tests and post-activity FTIR analysis were used to investigate the long-term usability and structural stability of the newly developed doped composite photocatalyst. The scavenging tests revealed a potential photocatalytic mechanism to explain the annihilation of the levofloxacin drug on the synthesized catalyst. The physicochemical and photocatalytic evaluations recommend that the assembled integrated material has excellent potential for mineralizing medicinal products in pharmaceutical wastes.