Heterogenous electro-Fenton degradation of sulfamethoxazole on a polyethylene glycol-coated magnetite nanoparticles catalyst

Charles Muzenda; Oluchi V Nkwachukwu; Kehinde D Jayeola; Orpah Zinyemba; Minghua Zhou; Omotayo A Arotiba

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139698

Heterogenous electro-Fenton degradation of sulfamethoxazole on a polyethylene glycol-coated magnetite nanoparticles catalyst

Chemosphere. 2023 Oct:339:139698. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139698. Epub 2023 Jul 31.

Authors

Charles Muzenda¹, Oluchi V Nkwachukwu¹, Kehinde D Jayeola¹, Orpah Zinyemba², Minghua Zhou³, Omotayo A Arotiba⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
² Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
³ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Technology for Complex Trans-Media Pollution, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China.
⁴ Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: oarotiba@uj.ac.za.

PMID: 37532200
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139698

Abstract

We report the preparation and application of poly (ethylene) glycol (PEG) coated magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) catalyst for the heterogeneous electro-Fenton (HEF) degradation of sulfamethoxazole in real wastewater PEG-coated MNPs of four MNP:PEG ratios were synthesised using the co-precipitation method. The synthesised MNP were characterised using FTIR, XRD, EDX, TEM, and CHN elemental analysis. It was observed that the coating of MNP with PEG influences the nanoparticle size, agglomeration tendencies and catalytic efficiency of MNPs properties in the HEF degradation process. A 1:1 optimal MNP:PEG catalyst yielded 91% sulfamethoxazole degradation and 48% total organic carbon removal in 60 min, which is an improvement of 11% over degradation with the uncoated MNP. The PEG-coated MNP showed higher stability in 10 consecutive reaction cycles, reduced leaching, and improved performance at a lower dosage and broader pH range than the uncoated MNPs. These results show that coating MNP with PEG enhances HEF catalytic performance in the degradation of sulfamethoxazole in wastewater.

Keywords: Degradation; Heterogenous electro-Fenton; Magnetite nanoparticle catalyst; Sulfamethoxazole; Wastewater; poly(ethylene) glycol.

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Magnetite Nanoparticles* / chemistry
Polyethylene Glycols* / chemistry
Sulfamethoxazole
Wastewater

Substances

Polyethylene Glycols
Sulfamethoxazole
Magnetite Nanoparticles
Wastewater