Highly efficient highly efficient Fenton-like degradation of sulfamethazine by aluminum-doped magnetic biochar activated hydrogen peroxide

This study successfully achieved the efficient degradation of sulfamethazine (SMT) by activating hydrogen peroxide with aluminum-doped magnetic biochar (AlMBC) as a catalyst. AlMBC was synthesized from wood sawdust using a simple impregnation pyrolysis method, and the material was characterized using various characterization techniques. The results indicated that the doping of aluminum enriched the content of oxygen-containing functional groups, increased the defect density, and provided more active sites. In the study of the degradation characteristics of SMT by AlMBC-activated hydrogen peroxide, AlMBC exhibited significant activity, achieving a degradation efficiency of up to 99.7 % within 120 minutes, which was a notable improvement compared to MBC, and the reaction rate constant was 1.6 times as that of MBC/H 2 O 2 . In the AlMBC/H 2 O 2 degradation system, the contribution rates of free radicals were in the order of 1 O 2 ＞·OH＞O 2 · - , accounting for 46.8 %, 38.6 %, and 14.6 %, respectively. Furthermore, the experiments revealed that the influence of natural organic matter and various inorganic anions on the AlMBC/H 2 O 2 system is minimal, and had strong universality. This study provides a new technical support for the application of magnetic biochar in the degradation of antibiotics.