Catalytic degradation of oxytetracycline via FeVO4 nanorods activating PMS and the insights into the performance and mechanism

In this work, FeVO 4 nanorods were successfully synthesized and employed as peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activators for oxytetracycline (OTC) degradation. The obtained FeVO 4 nanorods exhibited excellent catalytic performance for PMS activation because of the synchronous transformations of Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ , V 5+ /V 4+ and Fe 3+ /V 4+ , and abundant adsorbed oxygen (O ads ). Almost 100% of OTC can be decomposed via FeVO 4 activating PMS in 40 min and the reaction rate constant (k) was 0.1073 min −1 , being 5.65 times of commercial Co 3 O 4 (0.0219 min −1 ). Meanwhile, FeVO 4 exhibited a good stability and reusability. In addition, the impacts of experimental parameters (catalysts and PMS dosage, temperature, pH, and co-existing anions) on OTC degradation were detected in detail. It was proved that •O 2 − , •OH and 1 O 2 were generated and the contribution role in OTC degradation followed the sequence” •OH > 1 O 2 ≈ •O 2 − . The possible mechanism of PMS activation by FeVO 4 was deeply explored and the OTC degradation pathway was deduced according to the detected degradation intermediates. This study develops one new environmental-friendly, low cost, high efficiency and stable PMS activator for the efficient removal of antibiotics.