Efficient degradation of sulfonamides by introducing sulfur to magnetic Prussian blue analog in photo-assisted persulfate oxidation system.

The peroxynitrite photocatalytic degradation system was considered a green, convenient, and efficient water treatment process, but not satisfying against some antibiotics, e.g. sulfonamides (SAs). To improve the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of SAs, sulfur was introduced to a magnetic Fe-MOF (Fe-metal organic framework) Prussian blue analog to achieve a heteroatomic material CuFeO@S, which was applied in heterogeneous visible light photo-assisted catalytic process with persulfate (PS) as an oxidant. The characterization results of CuFeO@S by XRD and XPS confirmed the presence of FeO (for magnetic separation), Cu (for activation of PS) and S (for narrowing the energy band and prolonging the lifetime of photo-generated electronics). Through systematic optimization of reaction conditions in CuFeO@S + PS + hv system, efficient degradation of four tested SAs was achieved in 30 min (removal rate of 97-100% for the tested 4 SAs). Moreover, the material could be magnetically recycled and reused for over 7 cycles with a removal rate of >90% for sulfamerazine. Furthermore, the removal rate of sulfamerazine in pond water reached 99% at a mineralization rate of about 34% (decrease in total organic matter), demonstrating its potential in the treatment of antibiotic-containing wastewater.