Sulfur-doped mesoporous ferric oxide used for effectively activating H2O2 to degrade moxifloxacin

High energy consumption is the bottleneck in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for applying in eliminating refractory organic contaminants . Fenton catalysis is deemed to be the promising technology of AOPs to produce super-active hydroxyl radical ( ·OH) for tackling serious water environment pollution issues. Here, magnetic mesoporous sulfur-doped ferric oxide (PS-Fe) composite, prepared through simple co-precipitation method, was creatively introduced to activate hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) to generate ·OH for degrading emerging antibiotic moxifloxacin (MOX). The catalytic activity of PS-Fe was significantly elevated by sulfurization to achieve a degradation efficiency of 97 % and total organic carbon removal exceeding 44 % (within 30 min). Besides, we investigated the effects of catalyst dosage and H 2 O 2 concentration, initial pH value, temperature, and humic acid concentration on MOX degradation. Quenching experiments results indicate that ·OH, O 2 · – , and 1 O 2 participated in the degradation process of MOX, and ·OH plays the predominant role. Additionally, possible activation mechanism is proposed and possible reaction intermediates are speculated. This work can offer a novel and reasonable interpretation for designing heterogeneous iron-based materials in activating H 2 O 2 to degrade pollutants.