Three-dimensional blocky sponge based CoMoO4 catalyst activates peroxymonosulfate to degrade sulfadimethoxine: A remedy for ready-made catalysts to achieve convenient and continuous operation

The agglomeration-deactivation of ready-made or commercial catalysts and their difficulties in operation and separation make them unaffordable for the convenient and continuous employ in catalytic systems, which greatly limit their application in practical fields. To overcome the bottlenecks, in this study, the ready-made CoMoO4 catalyst was anchored on the skeleton surface of the chitosan coated melamine sponge (CMS) to fabricate the three-dimensional (3D) blocky CoMoO4@CMS composite, which exhibited excellent catalysis and reusability in the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the abatement of sulfadimethoxine (SDM) in water. Over 98 % of SDM (30 mg/L) was degraded in the CoMoO4@CMS/PMS system within 10 min, and the acceptable recyclability of CoMoO4@CMS was achieved in the continuous five rounds. In addition, the CoMoO4@CMS/PMS system possessed the strong anti-interference ability, which could realize the efficient elimination of SDM in the actual lake water matrix. Various characterization technologies and experimental designs were performed to reveal the relationships between the physicochemical properties and catalytic performance of CoMoO4@CMS. SO4•− and 1O2 was confirmed to be responsible for the SDM degradation. Based on the intermediates identification of the SDM degradation, the possible degradation paths were inferred. This study may provide a new strategy to fabricate the 3D blocky catalysts with excellent catalytic activity and convenient separation efficiency and to promote the practical application of PMS activation in wastewater treatment.