Degradation of enrofloxacin by Fe⁰ activated PDS

In this paper, the effect of zero-valent iron (Fe⁰) activated persulfate (PDS) on the removal of enrofloxacin (ENR) was investigated, and the effect and mechanism were analyzed by exploring the effects of Fe⁰ concentration, PDS concentration, pH, and the influence of anion and aqueous matrix on the removal of ENR by the Fe⁰/PDS system. The results showed that when [ENR] = 20 µmol/L, [Fe⁰] = 0.15 g/L, [PDS] = 0.4 mmol/L, the removal rate of ENR was 85.3% at 90 min, the mainradicals were HO^•, SO₄^•- and O₂^•-. At the same time, the system had a good mineralization effect (TOC removal rate > 40%), in addition, the system did not show obvious toxicity to soil microorganisms after the reaction, furthermore the Fe⁰/PDS system had a good removal effect on ENR in a wide pH range (4 ≤ pH ≤ 10). There is basically no difference in the removal rate of Fe⁰/PDS system in ultrapure water and river water. The results of this experiment could provide a reference for the removal of antibiotics based on advanced oxidation techniques based on SO₄^•-.