Persistent activation of peroxymonosulfate by MoS₂@FeOOH/ceramsite composite for continuous flow degradation of sulfamethoxazole

Abstract

Within the realm of wastewater treatment, the restrictions of inter-particle agglomeration and difficulty in recovery of traditional powder materials greatly limited their large-scale application. Hence, a novel combination of hydrothermal method and impregnation enabled the successful loading of MoS₂@FeOOH (MF) onto solid waste-derived ceramsite. Then it was employed to remove sulfamethoxazole (SMX) by activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) under continuous flow conditions. Interestingly, its rough surface and rich void structure provided rich attachment sites for MF using the ceramsite as substrate, and the metal-carrier interaction among FeOOH, MoS₂ and ceramsite suppressed the leaching effect of Fe ions. As predicted, the MoS₂@FeOOH/ceramsite (MFC) exhibited a higher degradation ratio (83.4%) compared to MoS₂ (36.7%) and MF (42.9%). The degradation of SMX involved multiple species, including ^⋅OH, SO₄^{⋅−, ⋅}O₂⁻ and ¹O₂. Notably, a significant role was observed for the non-radical pathway dominated by ¹O₂. Furthermore, ten intermediates were detected in the degradation process by LC-MS technique, and five possible degradation pathways of SMX were proposed, and the intermediates were evaluated for toxicity. In summary, the MFC composite has the advantages of good catalytic performance and lower ion leaching rate, exhibiting the promising application prospect in PMS activation for degrading SMX antibiotic wastewater.

Keywords

ceramsite / MoS₂ / FeOOH / peroxymonosulfate / sulfamethoxazole

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