Comparably effective elimination of several antibiotics from water: Elastic complementarity between radical and non-radical active species in catalytic systems

Faced with the challenges of water pollution caused by the abuse of antibiotics, the comparably efficient degradation for diverse antibiotics was achieved through an elastic complementarity among SO 4 • − , •OH and 1 O 2 in a layered double hydroxides (LDH) + peroxymonosulfate (PMS) system. The catalytic system was able to maintain excellent performance even in the complicated water environment. The activation process was realized by transferring electrons from Co and Fe sites to the antibonding orbit of the O–O bond in the adsorbed HSO 5 − . Co sites might dominate by virtue of a stronger adsorption energy. Furthermore, the activation performance was probably enhanced by the charge transfer between the Co and Fe sites. Notably, the potential intermediates’ significantly lower biotoxicity may make it easier to process conventional treatment methods further during the practical applications. The objective of this study was to enrich the mechanistic knowledge of PMS activation at the micro level and provide a promising alternative for the reduction of refractory organic contaminants in water.