Degradation of Sulfamethoxazole by Activation of Persulfate Based on Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous Carbon

In this study, novel nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon was prepared using solvent evaporation self-assembly method and used to activate persulfate for sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) degradation. The physicochemical properties of the materials were characterized using a variety of characterization techniques (XRD, SEM, Raman, XPS, FTIR). SEM and BET results showed that the catalysts had an obvious pore structure and large specific surface area, which increased with the increase of nitrogen content. XPS results revealed that nitrogen doping could increase the content of graphite-N in mesoporous carbon (from 0.4 to 3.28%), which was the main reason for the excellent catalytic performance of the catalyst. SMZ (20 mg/L) could be effectively degraded by 81.4% within 60 min under the optimal conditions of 200 mg/L of catalyst dosage, 2.0g/L of PS dosage, and initial pH of 6. Mechanistic study demonstrated that both radical and non-radical reactive species play crucial roles in SMZ degradation and deep mineralization to CO₂ and H₂O through the combination of SO₄^•−, HO•, and ¹O₂. This research offers valuable insights for investigations into the relationship between active sites and catalytic performance in N-doped mesoporous carbon-activated persulfate degradation of organic pollutants.