A review on the use of persulfate activation in treating antibiotics-contaminated wastewater

With the progress of science and technology and social development, the misuse of antibiotics has led to water pollution that severely impacts the ecological environment and human health, and the effective treatment of antibiotics-contaminated wastewater has become an urgent problem. Recently, advanced oxidation processes based on persulfate have been widely concerned by scholars because of their good effect in degrading antibiotic pollutants. In this paper, the activation mechanism of persulfate degradation of antibiotic pollutants is firstly reviewed, and the two activation mechanisms of radical pathway and non-radical pathway are distinguished. Then, this paper summarizes the common activation techniques for persulfate treatment of wastewater contaminated with antibiotics, analyzes the principles and characteristics of different activation techniques, and focuses on the non-heterogeneous activation of persulfate in transition metal-based materials and carbon-based materials in terms of the generation of responsive species and the surface electron transfer. Finally, in view of the current needs and difficulties, the author puts forward some suggested research directions and challenges faced, intending to provide some theoretical guidance for the efficient treatment and effective control of antibiotics-contaminated wastewater in the future.