Efficient photocatalytic degradation of nadolol using silver-modified PMMA/TiO₂

The commonly used β-blocker nadolol is regularly detected in wastewater and purified wastewater, representing a serious environmental problem. Photocatalysis has emerged as an innovative strategy to address such pollutants, with TiO₂ being a widely studied photocatalyst due to its potential in water treatment. However, its practical application is hindered by the high recombination rate of photo-generated electron–hole pairs. Therefore, the modification of TiO₂ to increase photocatalytic performance is one of the most important objectives in photocatalyst studies. For the modification of catalysts, various polymers can be used, such as polyvinylidene fluoride, hydroquinone superlattice, polypropylene, and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Among these, PMMA stands out as a low-cost, non-toxic, water-insoluble polymer. In this study, powder PMMA was modified with silver, combined with TiO₂ nanopowder, and applied for the degradation of nadolol under UV-LED radiation. The degradation kinetics were monitored using high-performance liquid chromatography, and pH changes were observed using a pH meter. After 120 min of UV-LED irradiation, the materials demonstrated a significantly higher removal efficiency of nadolol compared to direct photolysis, specifically a 94 % removal efficiency of nadolol, significantly outperforming direct photolysis. The photocatalytic activity results demonstrated the practical applicability of the novel materials. The degradation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, as evidenced by the calculated rate constant.