Photocatalytic activity of solvothermal prepared BiOClBr with imidazolium ionic liquids as a halogen sources in cytostatic drugs removal

Abstract

Abstract In this work, the BiOClBr, as a new family of bismuth based semiconductors, was successfully applied to remove of cytostatic drugs from water under UV-Vis light irradiation. BiOCl, BiOBr and BiOClBr were synthesized using two steps solvothermal method in glycerol. The inorganic salts (KCl and KBr) and 1-butyl-3-metylimidazolium chloride (BmimCl) and 1-butyl-3-metylimidazolium bromide (BmimBr) ionic liquids (ILs) were used as the source of halides for the photocatalysts synthesis. The as-fabricated samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The specific surface area was measured by Brauner-Emmett-Teller (BET) technique. Additionally, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy was used to evaluate the presence of IL on the photocatalysts surface. The comparison of photocatalytic activity between BiOCl and BiOClBr photocatalysts towards 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), imatinib (IMA) and cyclophosphamide (CP) removal was conducted. The highest photocatalytic activity in the cytostatic drugs degradation and mineralization was found using BiOClBr IL synthetized via ILs as the halogens source. The study showed that BiOClBr IL synthesized in the presence of ILs can be a promising material in the water decontamination methods.