Trace Sulfur Accelerated Peroxydisulfate Activation Based on a ZIF-67-Derived Nanostructure for Carbamazepine Degradation

Sulfate-radical-based wastewater treatment has received great interest due to its high-level efficiency. However, the preparation of stable and recyclable nanocatalysts remains a challenge. Herein, a highly efficient catalyst (FeCo/SC) for persulfate activation is successfully synthesized via dispersing S and Fe into carbon skeletons derived from ZIF-67. After the introduction of S, FeCo/SC exhibited excellent catalytic performance. With the action of SO4–•, Fe(VI), and 1O2, the degradation efficiency of carbamazepine (CBZ) (10 mg L–1) could be up to 97.9 ± 2% within 10 min. The results showed that the larger surface area after S doping decreases the electron transfer resistance. The S0/S2– is beneficial for promoting the Fe(III)-to-Fe(II) and Co(III)-to-Co(II) conversion cycle. Moreover, the liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer (LC-MS), density functional theory (DFT), and ecological structure–activity relationships (ECOSAR) revealed the possible degradation pathway of CBZ, which was a toxicity attenuation process. In consequence, this work offers an innovative scheme for researching the effect of trace S-doped bimetallic oxide nanoparticles on PDS heterogeneous catalytic systems.