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Updated: Jul 1, 2025

A Complete Method for Evaluating the Performance of Photocatalysts for the Degradation of Antibiotics in Environmental Remediation
Published on: October 6, 2022
Enhanced degradation of enoxacin using ferrihydrite-catalyzed heterogeneous photo-Fenton process
Lin Tian1, Liting Wang2, Shikun Wei1
1Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.
Abstract:
The ferrihydrite-catalyzed heterogeneous photo-Fenton reaction shows great potential for environmental remediation of fluoroquinolone (FQs) antibiotics. The degradation of enoxacin, a model of FQ antibiotics, was studied by a batch experiment and theoretical calculation. The results revealed that the degradation efficiency of enoxacin reached 89.7% at pH 3. The hydroxyl radical (∙OH) had a significant impact on the degradation process, with a cumulative concentration of 43.9 μmol L-1 at pH 3. Photogenerated holes and electrons participated in the generation of ∙OH. Eleven degradation products of enoxacin were identified, with the main degradation pathways being defluorination, quinolone ring and piperazine ring cleavage and oxidation. These findings indicate that the ferrihydrite-catalyzed photo-Fenton process is a valid way for treating water contaminated with FQ antibiotics.
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