Oxygen and nitrogen co-doped mesoporous carbon derived from COFs for efficient degradation of levofloxacin via peroxymonosulfate activation

Advanced oxidation processes based on peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation are widely used for the removal of antibiotic contaminants. However, the commonly used transition metal catalysts suffer from secondary contamination due to ions leaching during the activation of PMS. Herein, the oxygen and nitrogen co-doped carbon material (Nv-NC-2) with abundant mesopores was obtained by simple high-temperature calcination using covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as precursors and NH4Cl as an activator. The Nv-NC-2/PMS system exhibited excellent levofloxacin removal efficiency under a wide pH and complex water environment with anions interference. The C=O in Nv-NC-2 was identified as the main active sites through degradation experiments and XPS. Furthermore, the electron paramagnetic resonance, quenching experiments and probe capture experiments demonstrated 1O2 and O2-\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\text{O}}_{2}^{ - }$$\end{document} were dominant active species. This study enhances the catalytic activity of COFs-derived carbon materials through a simple activation technique, which provides a novel method for surface modification of carbon materials.