Efficient degradation of tetracycline by activating Cu doped CoCO₃@nickel foam of porous architecture with persulfate

Developing an efficient and stable monolithic catalyst is the key to remove organic pollutants from water. Herein, Cu doped CoCO₃ was successfully loaded on metal foam nickel (NF) via a solvothermal process for the first time, which exhibited excellent performance for tetracycline (TTC) elimination. The effects of experimental conditions, including the initial solution pH and coexisting ions were studied in detail. The removal efficiency of TTC (50 mg/L) was 85.37%. The porous NF material speeded up the transfer of electrons in the process of catalytic degradation. Notably, the results of quenching experiments show that both free radicals and non-free radicals have a synergistic effect in the degradation of TTC. Porous NF has good mechanical strength. The degradation rate of the catalyst was 77.52% after three cycles. The reaction mechanism of degradation of TTC in Cu-CoCO₃@NF/PS system with persulfate is proposed to be due to both free radicals, ·OH and SO₄^·− and non-free radicals of O₂¹. Moreover, the system has long-term oxidation performance.