Assemble millimeter-scale CoFe2O4 ceramic pellets for activating peroxymonosulfate to degrade lomefloxacin hydrochloride

CoFe 2 O 4 has attracted widespread attention given its high catalytic activity and magnetic sensitivity. However, the water treatment popularization of powdery CoFe 2 O 4 is hampered by its high metal-ion leaching and solid liquid separation after reaction. In this work, we assembled millimeter-sized CoFe 2 O 4 ceramic pellets with the help of biopolymer template and α-Al 2 O 3 microspheres . The prepared CoFe 2 O 4 @α-Al 2 O 3 pellets (CAP) exhibited high peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation ability with low metal-ion dissolution and can be readily collected by applying an external magnetic field . Continuous-flow catalytic experiments showed CAP/PMS system has excellent application potential for lomefloxacin hydrochloride (LMH) degradation with low leached metal ions ([Co] = 0.06 mg/L, [Fe] ＜ 0.04 mg/L and [Al] ＜ 0.04 mg/L). The chromatograms and components of river-based solution dissolved LMH showed that 15 % of the hydrophobic dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was converted to hydrophilic DOC, and the DOC content was reduced by about 21.8 %. Toxicity assessment (oral rat LD 50 , fathead minnow LC 50 -96h, developmental toxicity and mutagenicity) of LMH as well as fourteen intermediates indicated that the CAP/PMS system could dramatically reduce toxicity of LMH and is an efficient and promising technique for antibiotic degradation. In general, this work provides a new strategy for the rational combination of CoFe 2 O 4 and inert ceramic matrix to assemble a millimeter-sized pellets catalyst for easy to operate and long-term stability. • A millimeter-sized CoFe 2 O 4 ceramic catalyst for PMS activation was constructed. • The ceramic α-Al 2 O 3 microspheres can promote the exposure of more sites. • CAP exhibited a low leached concentration of metal ions compared with powdery CoFe 2 O 4 . • CAP could show excellent dynamic LMH removal performance.