Zeolitic imidazolate framework improved vanadium ferrite: toxicological profile and its utility in the photodegradation of some selected antibiotics in aqueous solution

Abstract

Zeolitic imidazolate framework improved vanadium ferrite (VFe2O4@monoZIF-8) was prepared to purify a ciprofloxacin (CP), ampicillin (AP), and erythromycin (EY) contaminated water system via a visible light driven photocatalytic process. Furthermore, VFe2O4@monoZIF-8 was evaluated for its hepato-renal toxicity in Wistar rats to establish its toxicity profile. Characterization of VFe2O4@monoZIF-8 was performed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetry evaluation (TGA), energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The VFe2O4@monoZIF-8 crystallite size determined by XRD is 34.32 nm, while the average particle size from the TEM image is 162.32 nm. The surface of VFe2O4@monoZIF-8 as shown in the SEM image is homogeneous having hexagonal and asymmetrically shaped particles. EDX results confirmed vanadium (V), iron (Fe), oxygen (O), carbon (C) and zinc (Zn) as the constituent elements. The bandgap energy is 2.18 eV. VFe2O4@monoZIF-8 completely (100%) photodegraded all the antibiotics (CP, AP and EY). In the 10th regeneration cycle, the degradation efficiency for CP was 95.10 ± 1.00%, for AP it was 98.60 ± 1.00% and for EY it was 98.60 ± 0.70%. VFe2O4@monoZIF-8 exhibited no significant changes in the plasma creatine, urea and uric acid levels of rats studied, suggesting healthy function of the studied kidneys. Furthermore, there was no significant effect on plasma electrolyte, sodium and potassium levels. The photocatalytic degradation capacity of VFe2O4@monoZIF-8 compared favorably with previous studies with minimal toxicity to the hepato-renal system, which suggests VFe2O4@monoZIF-8 as a potential resource for decontaminating antibiotic polluted water systems