Nitrogen-doped carbon materials prepared using different organic precursors as catalysts of peroxymonosulfate to degrade sulfamethoxazole: First-time performance leading to the incorrect selection of the best catalyst

Xinyao Liu; Liangjie Wang; Junfeng Dou; Feng Qian; Zhuolin Qing; Xiaolin Xie; Yonghui Song

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138442

Nitrogen-doped carbon materials prepared using different organic precursors as catalysts of peroxymonosulfate to degrade sulfamethoxazole: First-time performance leading to the incorrect selection of the best catalyst

Chemosphere. 2023 Jun:326:138442. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138442. Epub 2023 Mar 22.

Authors

Xinyao Liu¹, Liangjie Wang², Junfeng Dou³, Feng Qian⁴, Zhuolin Qing⁵, Xiaolin Xie⁵, Yonghui Song⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China; College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China; Water Science and Environmental Engineering Research Center, College of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
³ College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China. Electronic address: qianfeng@craes.org.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China; College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China. Electronic address: songyh@craes.org.cn.

PMID: 36963571
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138442

Abstract

Nitrogen-doped carbon materials are effective catalysts for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to eliminate organic contaminants. In this research, the activity of nitrogen-doped carbon materials was significantly improved by optimizing the carbon source, and the reusability of the catalyst is used to select the best catalyst instead of depending on the performance in the first use, for avoiding the "short-life" catalyst with great initial activity. Fixing ferric nitrate nonahydrate and melamine as the metal and nitrogen sources, four catalysts were prepared using glucose, glucosamine hydrochloride, dopamine, and trimesic acid as the carbon sources, respectively. Based on the performance in PMS activation for sulfamethoxazole (SMX) removal, in the first use, the activity was Fe-DA-CN (carbon source: dopamine) > Fe-BTC-CN (carbon source: trimesic acid) > Fe-GLU-CN (carbon source: glucosamine) > Fe-DGLU-CN (carbon source: glucose). With no washing for the second time use, the activity was Fe-BTC-CN (0.135 min^-1) ≫ Fe-DA-CN (0.037 min^-1) > Fe-GLU-CN (0.032 min^-1) > Fe-DGLU-CN (0.017 min^-1). The large specific surface area, superior graphitization, and high CO/C-N group content endow Fe-BTC-CN with high ability in PMS activity. Surface-bound radicals are responsible for SMX elimination, and most of the SMX degradation intermediates have lower ecotoxicity than SMX.

Keywords: Carbon source; Peroxymonosulfate; Sulfonamide antibiotics; Surface-bound radical; Toxicity prediction.

MeSH terms

Carbon*
Nitrogen
Peroxides
Sulfamethoxazole*

Substances

Carbon
peroxymonosulfate
Sulfamethoxazole
trimesic acid
Nitrogen
Peroxides