Facile synthesis of Fe3O4@MIL-100(Fe) towards enhancing photo-Fenton like degradation of levofloxacin via a synergistic effect between Fe3O4 and MIL-100(Fe)

The Fe3O4@MIL-100(Fe) hybrid composites are successfully synthesized via an in-situ growth method and characterized using various techniques. The ability of the magnetic metal–organic framework to promote photo-Fenton like processes is investigated using levofloxacin as a representative substrate. The results show that the composite with a Fe3O4:MIL-100(Fe) mass ratio of 1:4 has a higher degradation efficiency (up to 93.4%) than Fe3O4, MIL-100(Fe), and the other fabricated composites. This higher catalytic activity is ascribed to the synergistic effect between Fe3O4 and MIL-100(Fe), by which the quick separation of hole-electron pair from MIL-100(Fe) and the efficient reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+ in the photo-Fenton reaction are mutually promoted. Moreover, the composite shows favorable recyclability without apparent loss of apparent photo-Fenton activity even after five cycles, and more importantly, can be recovered magnetically. The possible degradation mechanism and intermediates of levofloxacin in the photo-Fenton reaction have been tentatively proposed based on free radical quenching, electron paramagnetic resonance and mass spectrometry analysis. Finally, the developed Fe3O4@MIL-100(Fe) is successfully applied for the removal of levofloxacin from spiked wastewater with removal efficiencies ranging from 77.9 to 85.5%, which indicates that the proposed system has significant potential for wastewater treatment applications.