Photocatalytic degradation of ampicillin using silver nanoparticles biosynthesised by Pleurotus ostreatus

The past few decades have witnessed a tremendous increase in the consumption of antibiotics worldwide. This rampant and unregulated use of antibiotics and their improper disposal has led to the accumulation of these drugs in the environment. This in turn has led to the emergence of antibiotic resistance in microbes and has become one of the most pressing global concerns in medicine, with highly resistant pathogens of many species proving difficult to treat. The aim of the study was to synthesise silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) using white rot fungus, Pleurotus ostreatus and assess its potential to carry out photocatalytic degradation of ampicillin. UV–Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope have been used to characterize biosynthesized Ag-NPs. The photocatalytic degradation of ampicillin in aqueous solution by Ag-NPs was evaluated under natural sunlight. The effect of the operating conditions (contact time, Ag-NP concentration and initial ampicillin concentration) on the photocatalytic degradation was also investigated. The highest ampicillin degradation of 96.5% was observed after exposure of the solution (antibiotic + nanoparticles) for 4 h in sunlight. The maximum degradation was observed at an Ag-NP concentration of 5 ppm at pH 6. To the best of our knowledge, photocatalytic degradation of ampicillin using Ag-NPs synthesised by P. ostreatus has not been reported earlier.