One minute ultrasound-assisted gold and platinum-decorated ZnO photocatalyst for ibuprofen degradation
5 affiliations
- 1Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche e Ambientali, Università del Salento Via Monteroni Lecce I-73100 Italy
- 2Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, Centro di Eccellenza per i Materiali Innovativi Nanostrutturati (CEMIN), University of Perugia via Elce di Sotto 8 Perugia 06123 Italy
- 3Departamento de Química Física y T. Aplicada, Instituto Químico para la Energía y el Medio Ambiente (IQUEMA), Facultad de Ciencias, Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba Córdoba Spain
- 4Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e la Tecnologia dei Materiali, INSTM Via G. Giusti Firenze I-50121 Italy
- 5Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Salento Via D. Birago 64 Lecce 73100 Italy
Abstract
The occurrence of ibuprofen in surface and wastewater is an emerging environmental concern due to its incomplete removal in conventional water treatment systems. In this work, ZnO-based hybrid photocatalysts decorated with noble metal nanoparticles (ZnO@Au and ZnO@Pt) were prepared through an ultrasound-assisted functionalization of preformed ZnO microstructures and evaluated for the photocatalytic degradation of ibuprofen in water. Structural, morphological, and optical characterization confirmed that the noble metal decoration preserved the wurtzite ZnO structure and the flower-like nanosheet morphology, while producing negligible changes in the optical band gap. Noble metal decoration significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity of ZnO, with ZnO@Pt exhibiting the highest degradation efficiency under UV irradiation. After 90 min, ZnO@Pt achieved 90.2% ibuprofen degradation, compared with 36.1% and 8.9% for ZnO@Au and pristine ZnO, respectively. In addition, ZnO@Pt showed an apparent pseudo-first-order rate constant on the order of 10−2 min−1, approximately one and two orders of magnitude higher than those of ZnO@Au and bare ZnO, respectively. The improved photocatalytic performance may be related to a more efficient charge separation promoted by Pt nanoparticles. ZnO@Pt also retained significant activity in a more complex mineral water matrix despite the presence of competing inorganic species and natural organic matter. Overall, the results suggest that ultrasound-assisted noble metal decoration is a simple and environmentally friendly strategy to improve the photocatalytic performance of ZnO-based materials for water treatment applications involving pharmaceutical pollutants.
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BibTeX
@article{manca2026minute,
title = {{One minute ultrasound-assisted gold and platinum-decorated ZnO photocatalyst for ibuprofen degradation}},
author = {Gabriele Manca and Valentín García-Caballero and Ludovico Valli and Juan José Giner-Casares and Manuel Cano and Simona Bettini and Gabriele Giancane},
journal = {Nanoscale Advances},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1039/d6na00485g},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1039/d6na00485g},
note = {CC BY 3.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - One minute ultrasound-assisted gold and platinum-decorated ZnO photocatalyst for ibuprofen degradation
AU - Gabriele Manca
AU - Valentín García-Caballero
AU - Ludovico Valli
AU - Juan José Giner-Casares
AU - Manuel Cano
AU - Simona Bettini
AU - Gabriele Giancane
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
JO - Nanoscale Advances
DO - 10.1039/d6na00485g
UR - https://doi.org/10.1039/d6na00485g
AB - The occurrence of ibuprofen in surface and wastewater is an emerging environmental concern due to its incomplete removal in conventional water treatment systems. In this work, ZnO-based hybrid photocatalysts decorated with noble metal nanoparticles (ZnO@Au and ZnO@Pt) were prepared through an ultrasound-assisted functionalization of preformed ZnO microstructures and evaluated for the photocatalytic degradation of ibuprofen in water. Structural, morphological, and optical characterization confirmed that the noble metal decoration preserved the wurtzite ZnO structure and the flower-like nanosheet morphology, while producing negligible changes in the optical band gap. Noble metal decoration significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity of ZnO, with ZnO@Pt exhibiting the highest degradation efficiency under UV irradiation. After 90 min, ZnO@Pt achieved 90.2% ibuprofen degradation, compared with 36.1% and 8.9% for ZnO@Au and pristine ZnO, respectively. In addition, ZnO@Pt showed an apparent pseudo-first-order rate constant on the order of 10−2 min−1, approximately one and two orders of magnitude higher than those of ZnO@Au and bare ZnO, respectively. The improved photocatalytic performance may be related to a more efficient charge separation promoted by Pt nanoparticles. ZnO@Pt also retained significant activity in a more complex mineral water matrix despite the presence of competing inorganic species and natural organic matter. Overall, the results suggest that ultrasound-assisted noble metal decoration is a simple and environmentally friendly strategy to improve the photocatalytic performance of ZnO-based materials for water treatment applications involving pharmaceutical pollutants.
SN - 2516-0230
ER -