S-doping Fe–Ce composites derived from PBA to accelerate Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycle in the Fenton-like process

The design of metal–organic framework-derived metal oxides/sulfides is an effective approach for water remediation. A series of Fe–Ce composites (Fe–Ce–S–N) with cluster-like morphology were prepared with prussian blue analogue (PBA) as the precursor in a hydrothermal process. S doping promoted the conversion of Fe(III) to Fe(II), which greatly improved the performance of the Fenton-like reaction. The optimized Fe–Ce–S–N catalyst exhibited superior catalytic activity towards sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) degradation (18.63 mgSMZ gcat−1 min−1), showing the largest k value (0.1862 min−1), which was 2.1 and 8.1 times higher than that of Fe–Ce–S–H and Fe–Ce–N, respectively. Moreover, the Fe–Ce–S–N catalyst displayed a remarkable reusability, stability and adaptability in Fenton-like systems. Overall, this work provides new insights into extending novel PBA-derived catalysts to significantly improve heterogeneous Fenton-like performances.