Abstract
The design and development of novel photocatalysts for treating toxic substances such as industrial waste, dyes, pesticides, and pharmaceutical wastes remain a challenging task even today. To this end, a biowaste pistachio-shell-derived activated carbon (AC) loaded TiO
2
(AC-TiO
2
) nanocomposite was fabricated and effectively utilized towards the photocatalytic degradation of toxic azo dye Reactive Red 120 (RR 120) and ofloxacin (OFL) under UV-A light. The synthesized materials were characterized for their structural and surface morphology features through various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, including high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) along with energy dispersive spectra (EDS), diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectra (PL) and BET surface area measurements. AC-TiO
2
shows enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to bare TiO
2
due to the change in the bandgap energy and effective charge separation. The degradation rate of dyes was affected by the bandgap of the semiconductor, which was the result of the deposition weight percentage of AC onto the TiO
2
. The presence of AC influences the photocatalytic activity of AC-TiO
2
composite towards RR 120 and OFL degradation. The presence of heteroatoms-enriched AC enhances the charge mobility and suppresses the electron-hole recombination in AC-TiO
2
composite, which enhances the photocatalytic activity of the composite. The hybrid material AC-TiO
2
composite displayed a higher photocatalytic activity against Reactive Red 120 and ofloxacin. The stability of the AC-TiO
2
was tested against RR 120 dye degradation with multiple runs. GC-MS analyzed the degradation intermediates, and a suitable degradation pathway was also proposed. These results demonstrate that AC-TiO
2
composite could be effectively used as an ecofriendly, cost-effective, stable, and highly efficient photocatalyst.