Fe0-modified sulfur-rich vacancy CoS2 enhanced persulfate photoactivation: Achieving high surface adsorption and rapid degradation of antibiotics

Efficient photocatalysts are key to achieving efficient photoactivation of AOPs based on PMS. In this work, a sulfur-rich vacancy magnetically separable Fe 0 /CoS 2 -S v photocatalyst with high surface adsorption capacity and rapid PMS activation capacity was designed for the efficient degradation of typical antibiotics. A tetracycline removal rate of 92.2 % and a high TOC mineralization rate were achieved within 4 min in the PMS/Vis system. The excellent catalytic performance was attributed to the synergistic effect of Fe, Co, and S on PMS activation and the generation of sulfur-oxygen vacancies by the composites. These vacancies greatly enhanced the catalytic performance of the PMS system, where the generated singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) was identified as the main active substance in the degradation process. In addition, the SO 4 2- based photocatalytic-assisted advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) for the degradation of organic pollutants were thoroughly investigated. XPS comparisons before and after the catalyst reaction revealed that the reducing nano-Fe 0 and metastable S 2 2- promoted the cycling between Co 3+ and Co 2+ , thus accelerating the rapid activation of PMS. This work provides a new perspective for the further development of efficient and rapid PMS photo-activators for environmental remediation in water bodies.