Kinetic study of the photodegradation of ibuprofen using tertiary oxide ZnO–Al₂O₃–TiO₂

This work reported the effect of the addition of titanium on photocatalyst based on layered double hydroxide using a conventional method and then calcined at 700 °C. The characterization of the prepared LDH and the mixed oxide were carried out with X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), specific surface area by N₂ physisorption (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and pH_PZC analysis. The catalyst has a small particle size with a specific surface area of more than 23 m²/g and a valence band edge of 3.35 eV. The photoactivity of the catalyst was evaluated in the photodegradation of 2- [4- (2-methylpropyl) phenyl] propanoic acid (Ibuprofen). The catalyst as a mixture of ZnO–Al₂O₃–TiO₂ (ZnAlTi) obtained a photodegradation of 95% after 210 min of exposure to UV radiation (λ = 254 nm). The catalyst showed enhanced photoactivity towards IBU degradation compared to commercial TiO₂ which was used as for comparative purposes under UV radiation. The activation energy for IBU degradation at 60 ppm was reported using pseudo first order kinetics. Mass spectrometry was used to analyze the photodegradation results. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].