Degradation of antibiotic pollutants by persulfate activated with various carbon materials

Antibiotic residues are ubiquitous in wastewater, surface water, and groundwater worldwide with concentrations ranging from < 1 ng/L to hundreds μg/L, which pose ecological risks to aquatic organisms and humans. To date, the removal of antibiotic pollutants by advanced oxidation process (AOPs) has attracted tremendous attentions. The persulfate-based AOPs show higher oxidation, better selectivity, wider pH range, and no secondary pollution than the traditional Fenton-based AOPs. Carbon materials with low cost and chemical stability are useful for the activation of persulfate (Peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and Peroxydisulfate (PDS)) to produce reactive species. However, there is lack of a comprehensive and critical review reporting the characteristics and influencing mechanism of various carbon materials (e.g. activated carbon, biochar, carbon nanotube, graphene, and carbon quantum dots, etc) and antibiotics (e.g. tetracycline, quinolone, β-lactam, sulfonamide, macrolide, etc) on the degradation behavior of antibiotic pollutants by the persulfate-based AOPs. Therefore, this study provided a comprehensive understanding on the degradation of antibiotics by carbon-activated persulfate system. Besides, the roles of operation parameters and synergistic effects of carbon materials combined with other assisted strategies are discussed systematically. Finally, the challenges and prospects for future investigation are proposed.