Photocatalytic degradation of enrofloxacin with CoAl-LDH mediated persulfate system: Efficiency evaluations and reaction pathways

Residual enrofloxacin (ENR) exposed in aqueous environments is challenging to the ecosphere. In this work, a layered double hydroxide CoAl-LDH was used to activate the common oxidizing agent persulfate (PS) for photodegradation of ENR, and the degradation pathways of ENR were scrutinized and elucidated. The results indicated that, under the optimal conditions obtained through orthogonal experiments, even though the degradation rate of ENR was as high as 97.72%, the removal of total organic carbon (TOC) from the system was only about 30%. Eleven probable reaction pathways were categorized, and thirty-one types of intermediates were identified in participating in the complex degradation process. The major products of ENR were P4 (C₁₇H₂₀FN₃O₃), P22 (C₁₉H₂₂FN₃O₄), P19 (C₁₇H₁₈FN₃O₃), which are mainly derived from the cleavage of the piperazine groups and quinolone rings. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the Fukui index for ENR revealed that the two N atoms in the piperazine ring were the core reactive sites in triggering the degradation chains, which were sensitive for electrophilic attack by the dominant radicals (•OH and SO₄•^-) generated from the composite PS-UV-CoAl-LDH system.