Co-Precipitation Synthesis and Characterization of the Sillenite Bi12CoO20 for the Degradation of a Pharmaceutical Product in Aqueous Solution

This study aims to synthesize a high photocatalytic performance semiconductor for the removal of a pharmaceutical pollutant namely Amoxil (AMX); the new heterojunction photo-catalyst Bi₁₂CoO₂₀/ZnO was used for this purpose. The sillenite Bi₁₂CoO₂₀ (BCO) was synthesized by co-precipitation and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The photocatalytic activity has been assessed for the AMX degradation, and optimized with respect to the pH (3 - 9) and catalyst dose (0.25 - 1.25 g L^-1).