Activation of peroxymonosulfate by CoFeNi layered double hydroxide/graphene oxide (LDH/GO) for the degradation of gatifloxacin

Layered double hydroxide (LDH) was a kind of layer materials with multi-metal elements and good catalytic performance, but the metals can be dissolved during catalysis. Graphene oxide (GO) was a two-dimensional structure with abundant anionic groups with the potential of immobilizing metals. However, LDH combined with GO (LDH/GO) was few reported in the treatment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). In this work, CoFeNi LDH/GO composites were designed and synthesized for activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS). Meanwhile, gatifloxacin (GAT), a typical antibiotic, was used to assess the performance of LDH/GO + PMS system. The characterization of LDH/GO using various measures showed that the adding GO was inserted the layer structure of LDH and the surface functional group of GO was immobilized in LDH well. GAT could be degraded completely after 45 min under the reaction conditions of pH 7.0, 38 mg L⁻¹ GAT, 40 mg L⁻¹ LDH/GO and 400 mg L⁻¹ PMS. The removal of total organic carbon and defluorination reached 55.5% and 78.0% after 5 h reaction, respectively. Quenching tests suggested that the main radicals responsible for GAT degradation and mineralization was sulfate radical (SO₄^−[rad]). The redox cycle made the catalysis of the LDH/GO composites work continuously. Compared with LDH + PMS system, the concentration of dissolved metals decreased 60.6%-74.3% at pH 3.0–11.0 in LDH/GO + PMS system. The reusability test indicates that LDH/GO has stable catalytic performance in removing PPCPs from wastewater.