{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T18:30:26Z","timestamp":1770316226931,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":88,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769990400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Catalysts"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The presence of emerging organic contaminants in water and effluents, including antibiotics, poses significant environmental and health risks. Moreover, while photocatalysis is a promising approach for their removal, the inefficient utilization of natural sunlight by common photocatalysts limits its large-scale use. This work demonstrates the enhanced sunlight-driven photodegradation of the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin (CIP) using a nanocomposite composed of carbon dots (CDs) and TiO2 (NC50:50). The CDs were obtained from corn stover, a major agricultural waste product. Initial testing was performed under artificial solar radiation: CIP was virtually fully degraded within 20 min, with a rate constant of 0.2372 min\u22121 and a 217% enhancement of catalytic activity over commercial TiO2. Validation under real-world irradiation conditions was subsequently made by performing photocatalytic assays under natural sunlight on different days under diverse meteorological conditions. The performance of NC50:50 was retained, degrading CIP within 30 min under natural conditions. Notably, while degradation by-products were identified under both artificial and natural sunlight, they were subsequently photodegraded by the nanocomposite under these conditions. This enhanced performance was attributed to a combination of effects resulting from CDs\u2019 incorporation, namely, improved absorption of visible light, enhanced charge separation, and increased specific surface area. Furthermore, the addition of CDs resulted in changes in the reactive species generation profile, which can alter the available degradation pathways. Thus, this study provides insight that can be useful for strategies aimed at the rational design of sunlight-active TiO2-based photocatalysts with tunable surface reactivity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/catal16020142","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T09:48:08Z","timestamp":1770025688000},"page":"142","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Ciprofloxacin Under Natural Sunlight Using a Waste-Derived Carbon Dots\u2013TiO2 Nanocomposite"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2957-2008","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ricardo M. S.","family":"Send\u00e3o","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Chemistry Research Unit (CIQUP), Institute of Molecular Sciences (IMS), Department of Geosciences, Environment and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s\/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3291-7713","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana T. S. C.","family":"Brand\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chemistry Research Unit (CIQUP), Institute of Molecular Sciences (IMS), Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s\/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8392-9581","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos M.","family":"Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chemistry Research Unit (CIQUP), Institute of Molecular Sciences (IMS), Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s\/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8478-3441","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joaquim C. G.","family":"Esteves da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chemistry Research Unit (CIQUP), Institute of Molecular Sciences (IMS), Department of Geosciences, Environment and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s\/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5647-8455","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lu\u00eds","family":"Pinto da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chemistry Research Unit (CIQUP), Institute of Molecular Sciences (IMS), Department of Geosciences, Environment and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s\/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1477","DOI":"10.1007\/s10311-020-01152-0","article-title":"Occurrence and removal of antibiotics from industrial wastewater","volume":"19","author":"Akhil","year":"2021","journal-title":"Environ. 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