Titania-immobilized CoOx clusters triggering efficient peroxymonosulfate activation for chloramphenicol degradation

Developing efficient catalyst materials for the degradation of antibiotic residues in wastewater is critical for the human health and ecological environment. In this study, CoOx clusters modified TiO2 with oxygen vacancies (CoOx-TiO2(VO)) heterostructure was fabricated using a molten-salt method for efficient degradation of chloramphenicol (CP) through peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. By tuning the parameters in the synthesis procedure, the optimized CoOx-TiO2(VO) heterostructure achieved a 100% CP removal capacity within 240 min in the presence of PMS. This is attributed to the existence of oxygen vacancies in TiO2, which provide a large number of free electrons that facilitate the electron migration from the CoOx catalyst to PMS. Thus, the enhanced PMS activation facilitate the generation of •OH and SO4•- radicals, leading to the effective CP degradation. Furthermore, the applicability of CoOx-TiO2(VO)/PMS system was investigated under different operating parameters. This work highlights the potential for designing highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts for the treatment of wastewater containing antibiotic residues.