Tetracycline-Induced Release and Oxidation of As(III) Coupled with Concomitant Ferrihydrite Transformation

Cocontamination with tetracycline (TC) and arsenic (As) is very common in paddy fields. However, the process and underlying mechanism of arsenite (As(III)) transformation on iron mineral surfaces in the presence of antibiotic contaminants remain unclear. In this study, the release and oxidation of As(III) on ferrihydrite (Fh) surfaces and Fh transformation in the presence of TC under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions were investigated. Our results indicated that the TC-induced reductive dissolution of Fh (Fe(II) release) and TC competitive adsorption significantly promote the release of As, especially under anaerobic conditions. The release of As was increased with increasing TC concentration, whereas it decreased with increasing pH. Interestingly, under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, the addition of TC enhanced the oxidation of As(III) by Fh and induced the partial transformation of Fh to lepidocrocite. Under aerobic conditions, the adsorbed Fe(II) activated the production of reactive oxygen species (·OH and ¹O₂) from dissolved O₂, with Fe(IV) being responsible for As(III) oxidation. Under anaerobic conditions, the abundant oxygen vacancies of Fh affected the oxidation of As(III) during Fh recrystallization. Thus, this study provided new insights into the role of TC on the migration and transformation of As coupled with Fe in soils.

Immobilized Co2+ and Cu2+ induced structural change of layered double hydroxide for efficient heterogeneous degradation of antibiotic

In this study, MgMn-layered double hydroxide (MgMnLDH) exhibited excellent remediation functionality for heavy metals-antibiotics combined pollution. On the one hand, Co²⁺ and Cu²⁺ was efficiently immobilized on MgMnLDH with maximum quantity of 4.30 and 10.65 mmol g^-1, respectively. A series of characterizations reflected the changes in structure and physicochemical properties of MgMnLDH after the immobilization. Density functional theory calculations (DFT) confirmed that the binding modes were lattice substitution for Co²⁺ and surface precipitation for Cu²⁺. On the other hand, the immobilized heavy metals enhanced the heterogeneous degradation for sulfamethoxazole (SMX) by peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. Complete degradation was achieved within 10 min in MgMnLDH-Co-4/PMS system and 60 min in MgMnLDH-Cu/PMS system, while only 20% in MgMnLDH/PMS system. The pH adaptability, reusability, stability and activation mechanism of two systems were systematically compared. The superior degradation performance of MgMnLDH-Co-4 benefited from the intense Co/Mn synergism and abundant oxygen vacancies, which could accelerate electron transfer during PMS activation process. The applicability of two catalysis system was confirmed in purifying other antibiotics and actual wastewater. The results highlight the importance of structural control in heterogeneous catalysis and provide new idea for environmental remediation.

K. Raj KR, Ghodekar MM, Patil VS, Gopinath CS, Raja T. Phase Transfer Ceria-Supported Nanocatalyst for Nitrile Hydration Reaction

The present study elaborates the catalytic effect of rare-earth metal oxides (Sm₂O₃ and La₂O₃) over ceria as a support phase transfer catalyst. The synthesized catalysts have been subjected to different characterization techniques, such as field-emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, N₂ adsorption-desorption (BET surface analysis), temperature-programmed desorption study (NH₃/CO₂-TPD), Fourier transform infrared, Raman analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to get better insights into the catalytic activity of the catalysts for hydration of nitrile.