Enhanced catalytic peroxymonosulfate activation for sulfonamide antibiotics degradation over the supported CoSx-CuSx derived from ZIF-L(Co) immobilized on copper foam

The CoSx-CuSx was firmly immobilized on copper foam (CF) substrate to fabricate supported CoSx-CuSx/CF using ZIF-L(Co)/CF as a self-sacrificing template, in which CF substrate played an important role in improving the adhesion between CF and target catalyst as well as the interfacial interaction between CoSx and CuSx. The CoSx-CuSx/CF performed well in catalytic peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation, which can accomplish 97.0% sulfamethoxazole (SMX) degradation within 10 min due to the special structure and Co2+ regeneration promoted by S2- and Cu+. The influences of pH, PMS dosage, catalyst dosage, co-existing anions and natural organic matter (NOM) on SMX removal were studied in detail. CoSx-CuSx/CF presented excellent catalytic activity and reusability, which might be fascinating candidate for real wastewater treatment. The possible pathway of SMX degradation was proposed, and the toxicity of the intermediates during the degradation process were evaluated. It is noteworthy that long-term continuous degradation of sulfonamide antibiotics was achieved using a self-developed continuous-flow fixed-bed reactor. This work demonstrated that CF as a substrate to fabricate supported catalysts derived from MOF had great potential in actual wastewater remediation.