Floating 3D‐Printed Grids: New Approach for Photocatalytic Degradation of Contaminants Under Direct Solar Radiation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Water contamination by antibiotics and other emerging contaminants is ubiquitous across all water matrices worldwide, and underlines the need for sustainable, easy‐to‐deploy materials that operate efficiently in real aquatic environments. A straightforward implementation is essential for bridging laboratory developments to diverse practical water‐treatment scenarios. In this work, floating poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF‐HFP) grids incorporating TiO 2 were fabricated via direct ink writing (DIW) 3D printing combined with salt leaching, thereby enabling precise control over geometry and porosity while overcoming the structural limitations of conventional techniques. The resulting grids exhibited interconnected porosity, strong mechanical stability, remarkable reusability, and effective photocatalytic performance, achieving 60% degradation of ciprofloxacin in 540 min under UV‐A radiation and complete degradation in about 120 min under natural sunlight. Distinctively, the materials maintained their photocatalytic activity across multiple reuse cycles, demonstrating robustness and operational durability. These results highlight the potential of this 3D‐printed floating system to provide a scalable, customisable and practical solution for water remediation using just sunlight.