An eco-friendly self-assembled catalyst preparation and study of tetracycline degradation: Performance, mechanism to application

Chloromethyl styrene resin can undergo specific chemical modifications and is an excellent adsorbent material for treating difficult-to-degrade substances in wastewater. In this study, chloromethyl styrene resin will be used as a carrier, and polystyrene chloromethyl resin (PS-Cl) was converted into PS-NH 2 by amino modification. The self-assembly of cobalt-based metal–organic framework (CoMOF) was induced on the surface of PS-NH 2 by using a novel preparation technique. The performance of the prepared PS-NH 2 @CoMOF self-assembled catalysts with core–shell-like structures in degrading the target pollutant, tetracycline (TC), was evaluated. The catalysts effectively induced rapid OH radical production from H 2 O 2 , had a degradation rate of as high as 88.3 % for 20 mg/L TC solution, and were highly stable and adaptable to aqueous environments. Free radicals and intermediates in the catalytic degradation process were detected by electron paramagnetic resonance and high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, and possible catalytic degradation pathways were analyzed. The catalytic dissociation behavior of H 2 O 2 in the presence of different catalysts was studied in depth and compared with that of similar metal–organic framework materials through density-functional theory calculations. Results demonstrated the excellent performance of the PS-NH 2 @CoMOF catalysts. Finally, the catalysts' potential for use in practical engineering applications was evaluated with a flow column experimental model, and the results were more than satisfactory. Therefore, the use of the catalysts to degrade TC has great potential.