Photo-Fenton-like degradation of antibiotics by inverse opal WO co-catalytic Fe/PMS, Fe/HO and Fe/PDS processes: A comparative study.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) such as Fenton and Fenton-like process for pollutant removal have been widely reported. However, most papers choose one of the popular oxidants (HO, peroxymonosulfate (PMS) or peroxydisulfate (PDS)) as the oxidant via AOPs for pollutant degradation. The purpose of this work is to compare the degradation rates of the Fe/PMS, Fe/HO and Fe/PDS processes. Furthermore, to solve the problem of slow regeneration of Fe, the visible light irradiation and inverse opal WO cocatalyst were added to the Fenton/Fenton-like process. The IO WO co-catalytic visible light assisted Fe/PMS, Fe/HO and Fe/PDS processes greatly improved the degradation efficiency of norfloxacin (NOR), reaching about 30 times, 9 times and 12 times that of the homogeneous Fenton/Fenton-like process, respectively. On average, the TOC removal rates of PMS-based, HO-based and PMS-based processes for the five pollutants were 71.6%, 54.0%, and 59.6% within 60 min, and the corresponding co-catalyst treatment efficiencies were 0.215 mmol/g/h, 0.162 mmol/g/h, and 0.179 mmol/g/h, respectively. O and •O have been proven to play a vital role in the degradation of NOR via all the three IO WO co-catalytic photo-Fenton-like processes. In addition, the effects of different reaction parameters on the activity of degrading norfloxacin were explored. The IO WO co-catalytic visible light assisted Fe/PMS, Fe/HO and Fe/PDS processes for removal of different persistent organic pollutants and norfloxacin in different actual wastewater have also been studied. Nonetheless, this study proves that IO WO co-catalytic visible light assisted Fe/PMS, Fe/HO and Fe/PDS processes could effectively remove antibiotics from wastewater.