Efficient degradation of sulfadimethazine via a novel bimetallic MOF/Ti3C2 cathode using reagent-free photoelectric Fenton process

Sulfamethazine is an antibiotic whose anti-degradability and potential for water pollution have become a threat to water contamination. This study designed a composite cathode of Fe-MOF-525/Ti₃C₂ to effectively remove SMT through Photoelectro-Fenton (PEF). Characterization and photoelectrochemical test results indicate that Fe-MOF-525/Ti₃C₂ contains abundant active sites and exhibits excellent catalytic performance for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Tests demonstrated that under optimized conditions, the PEF system achieved a removal rate of 95.6 % for SMT and a cumulative H₂O₂ concentration of 53 mM within 120 min. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) capture experiments confirmed that •OH and •O₂⁻ are the main ROS responsible for the degradation of SMT. Further studies investigated the possible degradation pathways. Overall, this work demonstrates an example of pollution control resulting from the philosophy of green chemistry, which offers a promising pathway to reduce the chemical demand for advanced oxidation processes.