Development of New Dual-Purpose Environmental Strategies for Effective Antibiotic Degradation Using Red Mud-Based Fenton Oxidation Catalysts

Mitigating antibiotic pollution is essential to combating antibiotic resistance, safeguarding ecosystems, ensuring food and water safety, and preserving the efficacy of antibiotics. Simultaneously, the comprehensive utilization of red mud is a key approach to reducing resource waste and ecological damage. This study investigates the use of iron components from red mud to prepare RM-nZVI/Ni for Fenton-like reactions, aimed at degrading antibiotics in water. By leveraging the inherent iron content in red mud, RM-nZVI/Ni was developed to achieve a dual-purpose environmental strategy: antibiotic degradation and solid waste resource recycling. The results demonstrate that 0.02 g/L of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) can be fully degraded within 15 min using 0.1 g/L of RM-nZVI/Ni and 6 mM of H₂O₂. Hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and Ni were identified as key contributors to SMX removal. Moreover, this system exhibits universality in degrading common antibiotics such as LFX, NFX, CIP, and TC. LC-MS analysis and DFT theoretical calculations indicate that the degradation byproducts are of lower toxicity or are non-toxic. Additionally, cost analysis suggests that RM-nZVI/Ni is a cost-effective and efficient catalyst. This research gives valuable insights into antibiotic degradation using red mud-based catalysts and offers guidance for expanding the high-value applications of red mud.