High Surface Area Ortho-Nb2O5 as Bifunctional Adsorbent and Photocatalyst for Efficient Removal of Tetracycline Antibiotics from Wastewater
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Keywords:
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Ortho-Nb2O5, Photocatalysis, Adsorption, Hydrothermal Synthesis, Bifunctional Material, Tetracycline
Abstract
The presence of antibiotics in aquatic environments poses significant environmental and health risks, requiring advanced treatment strategies for their removal. In this study, we report the straightforward hydrothermal synthesis of high surface area ortho-Nb2O5 and its dual role as both an adsorbent and photocatalyst for the removal of tetracycline (TC) from wastewater. The structural and morphological properties of ortho-Nb2O5 were systematically investigated using XRD, FTIR, FESEM-EDS, and BET surface area analysis. The ortho-Nb2O5 synthesized at 72 hours (Nb2O5_72) exhibited a high BET surface area of 242.42 m2/g, mesoporosity, and a bandgap of 3.28 eV, enabling efficient UV-driven photocatalysis. Adsorption studies revealed a high TC removal capacity of 32 mg/g at equilibrium. Under UV irradiation, ortho-Nb2O5 achieved significant photocatalytic degradation of TC.
References
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Ni, Q., X. Ke, W. Qian, Z. Yan, J. Luan, and W. Liu (2024). Insight into Tetracycline Photocatalytic Degradation Mechanism in a Wide pH Range on BiOI/BiOBr: Coupling DFT/QSAR Simulations With Experiments. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 340; 123226.
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Rivera-Utrilla, J., R. Ocampo-Pérez, M. Sánchez-Polo, J. J. López-Peñalver, and C. V. Gómez-Pacheco (2018). Removal of Tetracyclines From Water by Adsorption/Bioadsorption and Advanced Oxidation Processes: A Short Review. Current Organic Chemistry, 22(10); 1005–1021.
Saadati, F., N. Keramati, and M. M. Ghazi (2016). Influence of Parameters on the Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline in Wastewater: A Review. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 46(8); 757–782.
Santos, K. M. A., E. M. Albuquerque, T. L. Coelho, and M. A. Fraga (2021). Continuous Aqueous-Phase Cascade Conversion of Trioses to Lactic Acid over Nb2O5 Catalysts. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, 13(13); 11865–11878.
Serwecińska, L. (2020). Antimicrobials and Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: A Risk to the Environment and to Public Health. Water (Switzerland), 12(12); 3313.
Taher, T., R. Putra, N. Rahayu Palapa, and A. Lesbani (2021a). Preparation of Magnetite-Nanoparticle-Decorated NiFe Layered Double Hydroxide and Its Adsorption Performance for Congo Red Dye Removal. Chemical Physics Letters, 777; 138712.
Taher, T., A. Yoshida, A. Lesbani, I. Kurnia, G. Guan, A. Abudula, and W. Ueda (2021b). Adsorptive Removal and Photocatalytic Decomposition of Cationic Dyes on Niobium Oxide With Deformed Orthorhombic Structure. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 415; 125635.
Thakur, R., A. Singh, R. Dhanwar, S. Kadam, U. Waghmare, T. Lodha, B. S. Lopes, and O. Prakash (2025). Global Perspectives on Residual Antibiotics: Environmental Challenges and Trends. Discover Sustainability, 6(1); 232.
Wang, X., W. Li, R. Harrington, F. Liu, J. B. Parise, X. Feng, and D. L. Sparks (2013). Effect of Ferrihydrite Crystallite Size on Phosphate Adsorption Reactivity. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(18); 10322–10331.
Yao, J., X. Tong, S. Lu, Y. Meng, and G. Li (2024). Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline Over Bimetallic Layered Double Hydroxides–MXenes Heterostructures Under Visible Light. Materials Letters, 375; 137242.
Zou, Y., X. Hu, H. Cao, and Y. Ruan (2018). Adsorption Performance of N-Doped TiO2 Nanomaterials for Tetracycline Hydrochloride Wastewater. Lizi Jiaohuan Yu Xifu / Ion Exchange and Adsorption, 34(1); 63–73.
Almansour, A., N. J. Ahmed, and M. Yousfan (2021). A Retrospective Surveillance of Antibiotic Use in the Intensive Care Unit in a University Hospital in North Cyprus. Latin American Journal of Pharmacy, 40(2); 274–278.
Antos, J., M. Piosik, D. Ginter-Kramarczyk, J. Zembrzuska, and I. Kruszelnicka (2024). Tetracyclines Contamination in European Aquatic Environments: A Comprehensive Review of Occurrence, Fate, and Removal Techniques. Chemosphere, 353; 141519.
Asif, M., M. Latif, J. Yang, R. Wahab, B. Rasool, and M. H. Aziz (2024). Visible Light Driven Photocatalyst NiFe2O4/Ag2WO4 Nanocomposite for the Degradation of Tetracycline (TC-HCl) Antibiotics. Materials Letters, 377; 137391.
Athar, T., A. Hashmi, A. Al-Hajry, Z. A. Ansari, and S. G. Ansari (2012). One-Pot Synthesis and Characterization of Nb2O5 Nanopowder. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 12(10); 7922–7926.
Daghrir, R. and P. Drogui (2013). Tetracycline Antibiotics in the Environment: A Review. Environmental Chemistry Letters, 11(3); 209–227.
Dai, Q., G. Gao, J. Tang, R. Jiang, S. Sun, Y. Ye, S. Li, R. Xie, and J. Zhang (2025). The MIL-125(Ti)/Co3O4 Towards Efficiently Removing Tetracycline by Synergistic Adsorption–Photocatalysis Roles. Materials & Design, 250; 113608.
Filliping, L., Z. Yi, and H. Yingping (2008). Determination of Tetracycline Antibiotics in the Environmental Samples. Progress in Chemistry, 20(12); 2075–2082.
Gong, Y., Y. Wang, M. Tang, H. Zhang, P. Wu, C. Liu, J. He, and W. Jiang (2022). A Two-Step Process Coupling Photocatalysis With Adsorption to Treat Tetracycline–Copper(II) Hybrid Wastewaters. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 47; 102710.
Hamdan, A., M. N. AbuHaweeleh, L. Al-Qassem, A. Kashkoul, I. Alremawi, U. Hussain, S. Khan, M. M. S. ElBadway, T. Chivese, H. H. Farooqui, and S. M. Zughaier (2024). Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance Among the WHO’s AWaRe Classified Antibiotics Used to Treat Urinary Tract Infections in Diabetic Women. Antibiotics, 13(12); 1218.
Haseeb, A., S. S. A. Abuhussain, S. Alghamdi, S. M. Bahshwan, A. J. Mahrous, Y. A. Alzahrani, A. F. Alzahrani, A. AlQarni, M. AlGethamy, A. S. Naji, A. A. O. Khogeer, M. S. Iqbal, B. Godman, and Z. Saleem (2023). Point Prevalence Survey of Antimicrobial Use and Resistance During the COVID-19 Era Among Hospitals in Saudi Arabia and the Implications. Antibiotics, 12(11); 1609.
Huang, C., J. Fu, H. Song, X. Li, X. Peng, B. Gao, X. Zhang, and P. K. Chu (2016). General Fabrication of Mesoporous Nb2O5 Nanobelts for Lithium Ion Battery Anodes. RSC Advances, 6(93); 90489–90493.
Koundle, P., N. Nirmalkar, M. Momotko, S. Makowiec, and G. Boczkaj (2024). Tetracycline Degradation for Wastewater Treatment Based on Ozone Nanobubbles Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) – Focus on Nanobubbles Formation, Degradation Kinetics, Mechanism and Effects of Water Composition. Chemical Engineering Journal, 501; 156236.
Kouznetsova, T. F., A. I. Ivanets, and V. S. Komarov (2019). Low-Temperature Synthesis of Mesoporous M41S Metal-Silicates and Their Adsorption and Capillary-Condensation Properties. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Chemical Series, 55(3); 338–344.
Leong, C. Y., H. L. Teh, M. C. Chen, and S. L. Lee (2022). Effect of Synthesis Methods on Properties of Copper Oxide Doped Titanium Dioxide Photocatalyst in Dye Photodegradation of Rhodamine B. Science and Technology Indonesia, 7(1); 91–97.
Mishra, P., G. Tripathi, V. Mishra, T. Ilyas, S. Firdaus, S. Ahmad, A. Farooqui, N. Yadav, S. Rustagi, S. Shreaz, R. Negi, and A. N. Yadav (2025). Antibiotic Contamination in Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents: Current Research and Future Perspectives. Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring and Management, 23; 101047.
Nakajima, K., J. Hirata, M. Kim, N. K. Gupta, T. Murayama, A. Yoshida, N. Hiyoshi, A. Fukuoka, and W. Ueda (2017). Facile Formation of Lactic Acid from a Triose Sugar in Water over Niobium Oxide with a Deformed Orthorhombic Phase. ACS Catalysis, 8(1); 283–290.
Ni, Q., X. Ke, W. Qian, Z. Yan, J. Luan, and W. Liu (2024). Insight into Tetracycline Photocatalytic Degradation Mechanism in a Wide pH Range on BiOI/BiOBr: Coupling DFT/QSAR Simulations With Experiments. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 340; 123226.
Nie, Y., T. Zhang, Y. Xu, Y. Du, J. Ai, and N. Xue (2024). Study on Mechanism of Removal of Sudden Tetracycline by Compound Modified Biological Sand Filtration Process. Journal of Environmental Management, 356; 120709.
Rianjanu, A., K. D. P. Marpaung, E. K. A. Melati, R. Aflaha, Y. G. Wibowo, I. P. Mahendra, N. Yulianto, J. Widakdo, K. Triyana, H. S. Wasisto, and T. Taher (2024a). Integrated Adsorption and Photocatalytic Removal of Methylene Blue Dye From Aqueous Solution by Hierarchical Nb2O5@PAN/PVDF/ANO Composite Nanofibers. Nano Materials Science, 6(1); 96–105.
Rianjanu, A., K. D. P. Marpaung, C. Siburian, S. A. Muhtar, N. I. Khamidy, J. Widakdo, N. Yulianto, R. Aflaha, K. Triyana, and T. Taher (2024b). Enhancement of Photocatalytic Activity of CeO2 Nanorods Through Lanthanum Doping (La–CeO2) for the Degradation of Congo Red Dyes. Results in Engineering, 23; 102748.
Rivera-Utrilla, J., R. Ocampo-Pérez, M. Sánchez-Polo, J. J. López-Peñalver, and C. V. Gómez-Pacheco (2018). Removal of Tetracyclines From Water by Adsorption/Bioadsorption and Advanced Oxidation Processes: A Short Review. Current Organic Chemistry, 22(10); 1005–1021.
Saadati, F., N. Keramati, and M. M. Ghazi (2016). Influence of Parameters on the Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline in Wastewater: A Review. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 46(8); 757–782.
Santos, K. M. A., E. M. Albuquerque, T. L. Coelho, and M. A. Fraga (2021). Continuous Aqueous-Phase Cascade Conversion of Trioses to Lactic Acid over Nb2O5 Catalysts. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, 13(13); 11865–11878.
Serwecińska, L. (2020). Antimicrobials and Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: A Risk to the Environment and to Public Health. Water (Switzerland), 12(12); 3313.
Taher, T., R. Putra, N. Rahayu Palapa, and A. Lesbani (2021a). Preparation of Magnetite-Nanoparticle-Decorated NiFe Layered Double Hydroxide and Its Adsorption Performance for Congo Red Dye Removal. Chemical Physics Letters, 777; 138712.
Taher, T., A. Yoshida, A. Lesbani, I. Kurnia, G. Guan, A. Abudula, and W. Ueda (2021b). Adsorptive Removal and Photocatalytic Decomposition of Cationic Dyes on Niobium Oxide With Deformed Orthorhombic Structure. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 415; 125635.
Thakur, R., A. Singh, R. Dhanwar, S. Kadam, U. Waghmare, T. Lodha, B. S. Lopes, and O. Prakash (2025). Global Perspectives on Residual Antibiotics: Environmental Challenges and Trends. Discover Sustainability, 6(1); 232.
Wang, X., W. Li, R. Harrington, F. Liu, J. B. Parise, X. Feng, and D. L. Sparks (2013). Effect of Ferrihydrite Crystallite Size on Phosphate Adsorption Reactivity. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(18); 10322–10331.
Yao, J., X. Tong, S. Lu, Y. Meng, and G. Li (2024). Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline Over Bimetallic Layered Double Hydroxides–MXenes Heterostructures Under Visible Light. Materials Letters, 375; 137242.
Zou, Y., X. Hu, H. Cao, and Y. Ruan (2018). Adsorption Performance of N-Doped TiO2 Nanomaterials for Tetracycline Hydrochloride Wastewater. Lizi Jiaohuan Yu Xifu / Ion Exchange and Adsorption, 34(1); 63–73.
Authors
Taher, T., Maharani, P., Muhtar, S. A. ., Munandar, A., Sidiq, A. N., & Rianjanu, A. (2025). High Surface Area Ortho-Nb2O5 as Bifunctional Adsorbent and Photocatalyst for Efficient Removal of Tetracycline Antibiotics from Wastewater. Science and Technology Indonesia, 10(3), 916–923. https://doi.org/10.26554/sti.2025.10.3.916-923
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