Production of free radicals by the Co2+/Oxone system to carry out diclofenac degradation in aqueous medium

Abstract This paper reports the degradation of a solution of 0.314 mM diclofenac (DCF), while using 5–15 mM Oxone as oxidizing agent with the catalytic action of 0.05–0.2 mM Co2+. The best performance was obtained for 10 mM Oxone and 0.2 mM Co2+, achieving the total DCF abatement and 77% removal of chemical oxygen demand after 30 min. Oxidizing of sulfate () and hydroxyl (•OH) radicals was formed by the Co2+/Oxone system. Oxone was firstly oxidized to persulfate ion that was then quickly converted into the above free radicals. For Oxone contents ≥10 mM, the decay of DCF concentration followed a second-order kinetic reaction, but the apparent rate constant changed with the Co2+ concentration used. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of treated solutions showed the formation of some intermediates, whereas oxalic acid was identified as the prevalent final short-linear carboxylic acid by ion-exclusion HPLC.