Highly enhanced heterogeneous photo-Fenton process for tetracycline degradation by Fe/SCN Fenton-like catalyst

To suppress the electron–hole recombination and enhance the electron transfer on carbon nitride , an Fe-doped porous carbon nitride catalyst (Fe/SCN) was synthesized via supramolecular self-assembly method and applied in heterogeneous Fenton activation for efficient tetracycline (TC) degradation. Various characterizations revealed that the catalyst exhibited excellent visible light capture performance and electron transfer capacity . The highest degradation efficiency and mineralization rate of TC (10 mg L −1 ) were achieved under neutral condition (90.3% and 61.2%, respectively) with the leaching of Fe less than 14 μg L −1 . Free radical quenching experiments and spin-resonance spectroscopy characterizations revealed the dominating role of OH in TC degradation, and density functional theory calculation confirmed the formation of Fe-N X and revealed the interaction between Fe sites and H 2 O 2 . Three possible pathways of TC degradation were proposed, and the biological inhibition test revealed the potential of Fe/SCN/H 2 O 2 system to reduce environmental risks caused by TC. This work provides a new insight into the design of metal-doped heterogeneous Fenton catalyst for the efficient degradation of antibiotic contaminants in water.