Degradation of Oxytetracycline by Persulfate Activation Using a Magnetic Separable Iron Oxide Catalyst Derived from Hand-Warmer Waste

Abstract

Oxytetracycline (OTC) is a tetracycline antibiotic that is widely used in the drug therapy and livestock industry and may threaten human health and ecosystems when released into the environment. In this study, a catalyst was prepared from hand-warmer waste using a simple magnetic separation method. The prepared hand-warmer waste catalyst (HWWC) was used as a persulfate (PS) activator for OTC removal. Characterization methods, such as X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, were used to investigate the crystal structure, surface morphology, and weight ratios of the elements in the HWWC. The degradation efficiency of OTC in the presence of the catalyst and PS was studied, and the radical generation mechanism of the catalyst was investigated. The removal ratio of OTC by PS activation was greater than 99% for a reaction time of 24 min at a pH of 6. The effects of the HWWC dosage, PS concentration, and solution pH on OTC degradation were also investigated. The reuse test revealed that HWWC can be reused for eight cycles with great stability. These results suggest that PS activation using hand-warmer waste can be an efficient strategy for the degradation of antibiotics.

Green synthesis of superparamagnetic maghemite nanoparticles using banana pseudo-stem: a reusable heterogeneous catalyst for Fenton-like degradation of tetracycline antibiotics

“…This is expected in any sulphate radical-based Fenton reaction as the life times of active radicals are decreased at higher pH values. 45 Furthermore, at pHs greater than 4.0, precipitation of iron ions and conversion of more oxidizing sulphate radicals into less oxidizing hydroxy radicals (eqn (6)) become more prominent, and hydroxy radicals act as scavengers of sulphate radicals (eqn (7)). 46,47 a The effect of change in pH of TC solutions on the catalytic performance of MNPs can be discussed on the basis of its pH ZPC value and the speciation of TC at different pH values in water.…”

Efficient Degradation of Rhodamine B Dye through Hand Warmer Heterogeneous Activation of Persulfate

“…The hand warmer is a commodity that includes heat materials in a non-woven fabric bag and can expel cold, retain warmth, and promote the microcirculation of the body to relieve pain and detumescence [17,18]. The heating material is the main exothermic fraction of the hand warmer and is made up of iron powder, vermiculite, activated carbon, and salt.…”