Abstract

Tetracycline (TC), a widely used antibiotic in medicine and veterinary system around the world, is a major pollutant. Advanced oxidation processes based on radical sulfate and hydroxyl are widely applied due to the high oxidation potential for the degradation of recalcitrant organic pollutants in aqueous media. Herein, a strategy based on the green-synthesized biogenic nanosilver is described in conjunction with the deployment of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and hydrogen peroxide which were activated by silver for the remediation of tetracycline in water. The effects of various parameters such as biogenic nanosilver dosage, the varying concentration of PMS and hydrogen peroxide, pH, and initial concentration of antibiotic in TC degradation were investigated; TC removal efficiency was over 85 within 90 min under optimal conditions: 15 mg/L TC, 50 mM PMS, 4 mM Ag nanoparticle, pH = 4, and 80 mM H2O2. The degradation of tetracycline in the PMS/H2O2/Ag NPs process followed the pseudo-first-kinetics.