Construction of multi-transition metal sulphides and its superiority for degradation of carbamazepine by activation of peroxymonosulfate

The extensive utilization of pharmaceuticals and personal care products poses a potential crisis to human health and the environment. In this study, a series of multi-transition metal sulphides were synthesized by a combined approach of co-precipitation and hydrothermal to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the effective degradation of carbamazepine (CBZ). Notably, the prepared (MoFeCoZnCu)S x had the best PMS activation performance and exhibited the highest CBZ elimination efficiency. Subsequently, the structure and composition of the (MoFeCoZnCu)S x catalyst were characterized systematically. Key parameters including catalyst dosage, PMS dosage, and initial pH were optimized to enhance the performance of (MoFeCoZnCu)S x /PMS catalytic system. To investigate the potential application of (MoFeCoZnCu)S x /PMS, its cyclic stability and universality were evaluated. Furthermore, the mechanism for CBZ elimination using (MoFeCoZnCu)S x /PMS was verified and attributed to the involvement of sulfate radicals (SO 4 - ·), hydroxyl radicals (·OH), and superoxide anion radicals (·O 2 - ). Consequently, the (MoFeCoZnCu)S x /PMS catalytic system holds promising prospects for wastewater treatment and environmental remediation.