Sonochemical synthesis of porous NiTiO3 nanorods for photocatalytic degradation of ceftiofur sodium

•Porous NiTiO3 nanorods were synthesized through the sonochemical route.•The characterization studies revealed that the NiTiO3 nanomaterial was tuned to porous and perfectly rod shaped structure.•The porous NiTiO3 nanorods showed visible optical response for the degradation of ceftiofur sodium.•Higher photocatalytic degradation efficiency was observed upon addition of oxidant. Porous NiTiO3 nanorods were synthesized through the sonochemical route followed by calcination at various temperature conditions. Surface morphology of the samples was tuned by varying the heat treatment temperature from 100 to 600°C. The synthesized NiTiO3 nanorods were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, diffused reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analyses. The characterization studies revealed that the NiTiO3 nanomaterial was tuned to porous and perfectly rod shaped structure during the heat treatment at 600°C. The porous NiTiO3 nanorods showed visible optical response and thus can be utilized in the photocatalytic degradation of ceftiofur sodium (CFS) under direct sunlight. The photoluminescence intensity of the porous NiTiO3 nanorods formed while heating at 600°C was lower than that of the as-synthesized NiTiO3 sample owing to the photogenerated electrons delocalization along the one dimensional nanorods and this delocalization resulted in the reduction of the electron-hole recombination rate. The photocatalytic degradation of ceftiofur sodium (CFS) was carried out using NiTiO3 nanorods under the direct sunlight irradiation and their intermediate products were analysed through HPLC to deduce the possible degradation mechanism. The porous NiTiO3 nanorods exhibited an excellent photocatalytic activity towards the CFS degradation and further, the photocatalytic activity was increased by the addition of peroxomonosulfate owing to the simultaneous generation of both OH and SO4−.