Activating Peroxymonosulfate by a NovelFe-MOF-C/N Catalyst to Effectively Degrade Sulfamethoxazole: Catalyst Performance and Its Mechanism

A composite Fe-MOF-C/N was prepared with Fe-MOF and g-C3N4 precursors, and its activation property of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) in the degradation of Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) was studied. XRD, SEM, and TEM analyses showed that Fe-MOF-C/N was porous and mainly composed of phases of Fe3N, C0.08Fe1.92, and graphite. XPS indicated that Fe-MOF-C/N mainly had Fe, C, N, and O elements, among which Fe existed in the form of Fe2+ and Fe3+. Fe-MOF-C/N was used to activate PMS to degrade SMX, and the result showed that Fe-MOF-C/N had excellent catalytic performance and 84.17% of SMX could be removed in 8 min. Free radical quenching experiments showed that 1O2 was the main active species in Fe-MOF-C/N/PMS. The stability experiment showed that Fe-MOF-C/N had good stability, and the degradation rate of SMX only decreased by 5.8% after five times of use.