Efficient degradation of sulfamethoxazole by acetylene black activated peroxydisulfate

Acetylene black(AB),as a kind of carbon material with large specific surface area,low density,strong electron transferability,is supposed to have great potential for application in advanced oxidation processes(AOPs).In this study,AB was utilized as a peroxydisulfate(PDS)activator for the catalytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole(SMX)in aqueous media.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD),Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET)techniques,zeta potential and Raman spectra were employed to characterize the features of AB.To verify the excellent performance of AB/PDS systems,a series of control experiments were carried out.Compared to graphite/PDS and biochar/PDS system,AB/PDS system could complete degradation of SMX within 15 min.Besides,the effects of key factors including AB dosage,PDS dosage,initial pH and SMX concentration on SMX degradation in AB/PDS system were elucidated systematically.Furthermore,through the radical quenching experiments,it was proved that singlet oxygen(1 O_(2))was dominantly responsible for the degradation of SMX.Finally,based on the experiment results and compre hensive analysis,a probable reaction mechanism of AB/PDS system for SMX degradation was proposed.This work suggests that AB has a good potential for tackling the hazardous pollutants in environmental remediation.