Sulfur-doped activated carbon for the efficient degradation of tetracycline with persulfate: Insight into the effect of pore structure on catalytic performance

Abstract

Sulfur-doped activated carbon has proved to be a promising metal-free catalyst for persulfate (PDS) catalytic activation for the oxidation of aqueous refractory organics. Herein, sulfur-doped porous carbon (ACS) catalysts with different pore structures and doped-S contents were prepared via a template method using D(+)-glucose as the carbon source, sulfur as the sulfur source, and nano-MgO with different particle sizes as templates. Characterization results showed that the particle size of MgO significantly affects the pore structure and doped-S content of ACSs catalysts: a sample synthesized with 20 nm MgO as template (ACS-20) presented the highest content of doped-S and a mesoporous structure, which endowed it with superior adsorption and catalytic performance toward tetracycline (TC) removal. The effect of catalyst dosage, TC concentration, PDS concentration and solution pH on TC removal efficiency were evaluated. The reaction mechanism, investigated by combination of EPR, quenching experiments and LC-MS, indicated that the reactive species included HO·, SO₄˙⁻, and ¹O₂, but that ¹O₂ played the dominant role in TC oxidation through a non-radical oxidation pathway. In addition, the reusability and regeneration properties of the ACS-20 catalyst were also studied. This work provides a promising strategy and some theoretical basis for the design and preparation of activated carbon catalysts for advanced oxidation reactions from the viewpoint of pore structure design and S-doping.