Abstract
Abstract
The eco-friendly green synthesis of cadmium sulphide (CdS) and Ni-doped cadmium sulphide (Ni-CdS) nanoparticles was done through papaya peel extract mediator. The nanoparticles obtained were characterized well through X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray (EDX), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Ultraviolet-Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV-DRS) and zeta potential. The photocatalytic activity of synthesized samples for ciprofloxacin (CIP) was examined under visible-light irradiation. Different concentration of Ni was doped in CdS to obtain the maximum photocatalytic degradation. Ni-CdS 0.4 showed maximum degradation efficiency (∼96 %) in 180 min, which is superior to pure CdS (∼31 %). The activity of the degradation was highly sensitive to solution pH and the catalyst dosage, and the degradation was most active at a pH of 10 and catalyst loading of 0.010 g/L. The rate constant for CdS and Ni-CdS 0.4 were found 0.00641 min
−1
and 0.05186 min
−1
respectively. Experiments of reusability confirmed stability of the catalyst for several cycles. The results indicate that green-synthesized Ni-CdS can be a promising, stable and sustainable photocatalyst to degrade pharmaceutical pollutants like CIP in the aqueous solution in an efficient manner.