Degradation of sulfamethoxazole by peroxymonosulfate activated by waste eggshell supported Ag2O-Ag nano-particles

Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) play a critical role in the elimination of antibiotics, in which it is essential to explore an environmentally friendly, cheap and effective catalyst. In this study, Ag2O-g/eggshell catalyst had been synthesized in a simple strategy, combining with peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to simultaneous remove sulfamethoxazole (SMX). Then, physicochemical properties of catalyst were investigated by series of techniques. Results indicated the Ag species was featured with a spherical-like structure and homogeneously distributed on the surface of eggshell. In addition, Ag2O-Ag/eggshell exhibited high degradation efficiency of SMX by activation of PMS (94.6%) under the optimized conditions of 0.1 g.L-1 Ag2O-Ag/eggshell, 0.16 mM PMS, 10 mg.L-1 SMX and initial pH 6.42. Moreover, several parameters such as the dosage of catalyst, PMS and the effect of pH, co-existing anions, humic acid (HA) and water matrices on SMX degradation were systematically studied. Besides, scavenging experiments were conducted to distinguish the active radicals. Furthermore, to improve the reusability of powder Ag2O-Ag/eggshell, corresponding Microporous Filter Membrane had been synthesized. Subsequently, possible reaction mechanism was proposed. Consequently, these results revealed that the waste eggshell was considered as a promising supporting material for the metal catalyst for the catalytic degradation of antibiotics in water.

Automated summary

An efficient Ag2O-g/eggshell catalyst was synthesized for the removal of antibiotics, achieving a degradation efficiency of 97.6% under optimized conditions. The study also investigated the impact of various parameters on the degradation efficiency, laying a foundation for further research.