Study on the mechanism of degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride by microwave-activated sodium persulfate

The utilization of microwaves in revitalizing peroxymonosulfate for tetracycline decomposition: optimization via response surface methodology

Antibiotic contamination in water has received significant attention in recent years for the reason that the residuals of antibiotics can promote the progression of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs). It is difficult to treat antibiotics using conventional biological treatment methods. In order to investigate an efficient new method of treating antibiotics in water, in this study, microwave (MW) was employed in revitalizing peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to treat typical antibiotic tetracycline (TC). The Box-Behnken design (BBD) was applied to organize the experimental schemes. The response surface methodology (RSM) optimization was run to derive the best experimental conditions and validated using actual data. Moreover, the main mechanisms of PMS activation via MW were resolved. The results demonstrated that the relationship between TC removal rate and influencing factors was consistent with a quadratic model, where the P-value was less than 0.05, and the model was considered significant. The optimal condition resulting from the model optimization were power = 800 W, [PMS] = 0.4 mM, and pH = 6.0. Under such conditions, the actual removal of TC was 99.3%, very close to the predicted value of 99%. The quenching experiment confirmed that SO4•- and •OH were jointly responsible for TC removal.

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of MoS2/BiVO4 Heterojunction for Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline Hydrochloride

Compared with traditional hydrothermal synthesis, microwave-assisted synthesis has the advantages of being faster and more energy efficient. In this work, the MoS₂/BiVO₄ heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized by the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method within 30 min. The morphology, structure and chemical composition were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The results of characterizations demonstrated that the synthesized MoS₂/BiVO₄ heterojunction was a spherical structure with dimensions in the nanorange. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of the samples was investigated by degrading tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) under visible light irradiation. Results indicated that the MoS₂/BiVO₄ heterojunction significantly improved the photocatalytic performance compared with BiVO₄ and MoS₂, in which the degradation rate of TC (5 mg L^-1) by compound where the mass ratio of MoS₂/BiVO₄ was 5 wt% (MB5) was 93.7% in 90 min, which was 2.36 times of BiVO₄. The active species capture experiments indicated that •OH, •O₂^- and h⁺ active species play a major role in the degradation of TC. The degradation mechanism and pathway of the photocatalysts were proposed through the analysis of the band structure and element valence state. Therefore, microwave technology provided a quick and efficient way to prepare MoS₂/BiVO₄ heterojunction photocatalytic efficiently.

Application of FeS-activated persulfate oxidation system for the degradation of tetracycline in aqueous solution

Tetracycline (TC), an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infectious diseases, is easily transferred to environmental matrixes and then sparks environmental concerns. In this study, TC was selected as a target pollutant to investigate the degradation performance of persulfate (PS) based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) using FeS as the activator (FeS/PS). The results showed that with optimal PS and FeS concentrations of 1 mM and a pseudo-second-order rate constant (k₂) of 3.45 L mmol^-1 min^-1, 91.39% of TC, was effectively removed within 60 min. From the perspective of degradation rate, apart from CO₃^2-, TC decompositions by FeS/PS were hardly disturbed by the coexistence of different concentrations of Cl^-, NO₃^-, SO₄^2-, and humin acid. The degradation of TC under the O₂ bubbling, N₂ bubbling, and light-proof conditions also had limited effects on these AOPs. In addition, FeS exhibited excellent stability and recyclability when used as a PS activator for TC removal. The PS activated by old FeS and used FeS showed nearly identical performances on TC removal compared with the fresh FeS. It is suggested that homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions are jointly responsible for TC oxidation by FeS/PS. With the contributions of the generated, highly reactive SO₄^-•, and, in particular, •OH, TC enabled the mineralization of inorganic products eventually. Therefore, FeS/PS is highly recommended as an alternative AOPs in the future for TC-contaminated wastewater purification.

Electrochemical degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride in sulfate solutions on boron-doped diamond electrode: The accumulation and transformation of persulfate

In this study, a novel electrifying mode (divided power-on and power-off stage) was applied in the system of BDD activate sulfate to degrade tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). The BDD electrode could activate sulfate and H₂O to generate sulfate radicals (SO₄^•-) and hydroxyl radicals (^•OH) to remove TCH, and SO₄^•- could dimerize to form S₂O₈^2-. Then, the S₂O₈^2- was activated by heat and quinones to generate SO₄^•- for the continuous degradation of TCH during the power-off stage. In addition, the intermittent time has a significant effect on the degradation of TCH. Factors, affecting the accumulation of S₂O₈^2-, were analyzed using a full factorial design, and the accumulation of S₂O₈^2- could reach 16.2 mM in 120 min. The results of electron spin resonance and radical quenching test showed that SO₄^•-, ^•OH, direct electron transfer (DET), and non-radical in the system could effectively degrade TCH, and SO₄^•- was dominated. The intermediate products of TCH were analyzed by HPLC-QTOF-MS/MS, and the TCH mainly underwent hydroxylation, demethylation and ring opening reactions to form small molecules, and finally mineralized. The results of the feasibility analysis revealed that some intermediates have high toxicity, but the system could improve the toxicity. The results of energy consumption indicated that the intermittent electrifying mode could make full use of the persulfate generated during the power-on stage and reduce about 30% energy consumption. In conclusion, this work demonstrated that it was economically feasible to degrade TCH in wastewater by activating sulfate with BDD electrodes with an intermittent electrifying mode.

A comprehensive review on persulfate activation treatment of wastewater

With increasingly serious environmental pollution and the production of various wastewater, water pollutants have posed a serious threat to human health and the ecological environment. The advanced oxidation process (AOP), represented by the persulfate (PS) oxidation process, has attracted increasing attention because of its economic, practical, safety and stability characteristics, opening up new ideas in the fields of wastewater treatment and environmental protection. However, PS does not easily react with organic pollutants and usually needs to be activated to produce oxidizing active substances such as sulfate radicals (SO₄^-) and hydroxyl radicals (OH) to degrade them. This paper summarizes the research progress of PS activation methods in the field of wastewater treatment, such as physical activation (e.g., thermal, ultrasonic, hydrodynamic cavitation, electromagnetic radiation activation and discharge plasma), chemical activation (e.g., alkaline, electrochemistry and catalyst) and the combination of the different methods, putting forward the advantages, disadvantages and influencing factors of various activation methods, discussing the possible activation mechanisms, and pointing out future development directions.

A review of microwave-assisted advanced oxidation processes for wastewater treatment

Microwave (MW) technology has gained increasing interest in wastewater treatment due to its unique properties, such as fast and uniform heating, hot spots effect, and non-thermal effect. MW enhances the production of active radicals (e.g., OH, SO₄^-), which exerts a stronger integrated treatment effect in combination with advanced oxidation processes. Over the years, microwave-assisted advanced oxidation processes (MW-AOPs) have developed rapidly to degrade pollutants as innovative treatment approaches. This paper provides a detailed classification and a comprehensive review of MW-AOPs. The latest applications of MW in different advanced oxidation systems (oxidation systems, catalytic oxidation systems, and photochemical, electrochemical and sonochemical systems) are reviewed. The reaction parameters and performance of MW-AOPs in wastewater treatment are discussed, and the enhancement of pollutant degradation by MW is highlighted. In addition, the operating costs of MW-AOPs are evaluated. Some recommendations on MW-AOPs are made for future research. This review provides meaningful information on the potential development and evolution of MW-AOPs.

Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline by Phosphorus-doped carbon nitride tube combined with peroxydisulfate under visible light irradiation

Photocatalysis has been regarded as a kind of environmentally friendly advanced oxidation process to eliminate pollutants. In this work, Phosphorus-doped carbon nitride tube (PCN) was synthesized via a hydrothermal calcination method and applied to degrade tetracycline (TC) through combing with peroxydisulfate (PDS) under visible light irradiation. Experimental results showed that the optimized catalysts PCN-5 exhibited superior degradation performance and reusability for TC degradation. 96.4% TC could be degraded for optimal PCN-5 with 0.3 g·L^-1 catalysts and 1.0 g·L^-1 PDS under visible light within 60 min. In addition, the degradation rate constant for TC of PCN + PDS + Vis system was still above 85% after five uses. Radical trapping experiment indicating that O₂^·- is the dominant radical for TC degradation. The findings of this work revealed the potential application of the PCN + PDS + Vis system toward degrading contaminants in wastewater.