In situ synthesis of FeOCl@MoS2 on graphite felt as novel electro-Fenton cathode for efficient degradation of antibiotic ciprofloxacin at mild pH

Abstract

The traditional Electro-Fenton (EF) is an efficient technology for wastewater treatment but suffers from the acidic condition requirement and external catalyst addition. To overcome these challenges, a GF@MoS₂@FeOCl cathode was fabricated using a facile method. The as-prepared GF@MoS₂@FeOCl cathode showed excellent performance for ciprofloxacin (CIP) degradation in EF process with RuO₂/Ti electrode as the anode. H₂O₂ was electro-generated and activated on-site at the cathode at mild pH without adding Fe²⁺. CIP was 100% removed with 74.4% of mineralization in 90 min at pH 6. The GF@MoS₂@FeOCl cathode exhibited good reusability after consecutive runs of degradation. The degradation intermediates were investigated, and the possible mechanism was proposed. This work demonstrated that the prepared GF@MoS₂@FeOCl cathode is a promising candidate for contaminants treatment in an EF system.

Keywords: Ciprofloxacin; Electro-fenton; GF@MoS(2)@FeOCl.