Enhancing the Fenton-like activity of molybdenite through Fe(III) ions impregnation

The Fenton-like application potential of MoS₂ has recently attracted widespread interest in advanced oxidation processes. This study utilized natural molybdenite ore as the source of MoS₂, and the Fenton-like reactivity of molybdenite was further enhanced by dropping Fe(III) ions on the basal planes of MoS₂. EDS elemental analysis and XPS results suggest that Fe species were successfully anchored on the molybdenite surface, which exhibited exceptional efficiency in peracetic acid (PAA) activation. The Fe-molybdenite/PAA system achieved 83.2% degradation of sulfamethazine (SMT) within 30 min, and the reaction efficiency by Fe-molybdenite was 3.3 times higher than that of the unmodified molybdenite. HO^• and Fe(V) were identified as the reactive species (RSs) during PAA activation, and SMT was degraded by these RSs. Increasing Fe-molybdenite and PAA dosages enhanced SMT degradation, with optimal performance observed at pH 4. Hydroxylation, nitrification, Smiles rearrangement and radical recombination reactions were involved during SMT degradation. Tetracyclines, dyes and other sulphonamide antibiotics could also be well degraded by Fe-molybdenite/PAA. This study elucidates fundamental design principles for engineering Fenton-like catalysts from natural mineral precursors.