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Degradation of tetracycline by activating persulfate using biochar-based CuFe2O4 composite

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Abstract

Biochar derived from Lentinus edodes (LBC) and CuFe2O4 (CuFe2O4@LBC) composites were prepared by the hydrothermal method, and were applied to activate persulfate (PDS) for degrading tetracycline (TC) in a wide pH range. The CuFe2O4@LBC composites were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, and XPS. LBC-derived biochars greatly reduced the aggregation of CuFe2O4 particles and enhanced the catalytic performance of CuFe2O4. CuFe2O4@LBC catalyst could remove 85% of tetracycline within 100 min under visible light. In addition, the removal rate of TC reached 76% after five cycles, indicating that the composite had good stability and reusability. Simple classical quenching experiments suggested that the degradation of TC could be mainly attributed to •OH and •S \({\text{O}}_{4}^{-}\).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by “Qing Lan Project” of Jiangsu Province, “333 Project” of Jiangsu Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Safety Engineering, Changzhou University, Jiangsu, 213164, China

    Wei Zhang, Shijun Feng, Jianfeng Ma & Fang Zhu

  2. Department of Ecosystem Science and Management and Materials Research Institute, 204 Energy and the Environment Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA, 16802, USA

    Sridhar Komarneni

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  1. Wei Zhang
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  2. Shijun Feng
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  3. Jianfeng Ma
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  4. Fang Zhu
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Jianfeng Ma: Data curation, Methodology and Formal analysis, Writing—original draft, Wei Zhang, Jianfeng Ma and Shijun Feng, Writing—review & editing Fang Zhu and Sridhar Komarneni.

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Zhang, W., Feng, S., Ma, J. et al. Degradation of tetracycline by activating persulfate using biochar-based CuFe2O4 composite. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 67003–67013 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20500-x

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