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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Nanomaterials

Metal-Free Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Derived from g-C3N4/Glucose Composites for Singlet Oxygen-Dominated PMS Activation Toward Enrofloxacin Degradation

  • Peilun Wang1,2
  • Lei Wang1
  • Xinyu Zhang3
  • Yinlong Kuang4
  • Shuming Liu1
  • Le Cui1
  • Yixue Xu1
  • Qiufang Yao1,2
4 affiliations
  1. 1College of Advanced Materials Engineering, Jiaxing Nanhu University, Jiaxing 314001, China
  2. 2Yangtze River Delta Institute of Circular Economy Technology, Jiaxing 314001, China
  3. 3Shanghai Chengtou Water Group Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200092, China
  4. 4College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
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Abstract

Enrofloxacin (ENR), a widely used veterinary fluoroquinolone, persists in the environment and resists conventional treatment. A metal-free nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst (N@C) was synthesized from graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and glucose via hydrothermal compositing and carbonization at 900 °C, and used to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for ENR degradation. TEM, XRD, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, and N2 physisorption revealed a hierarchically porous architecture with a specific surface area of 578.6 m2 g−1 and 10.2 at% nitrogen. The N@C/PMS system removed over 99.9% of ENR in 20 min ([ENR]0 = 20 mg L−1, [PMS] = 0.2 mM, [N@C] = 5 mg L−1, 25 °C), with a rate constant of 0.4389 min−1. TOC removal reached 40% within 30 min at 1.0 mM PMS, and post-reaction XPS and XRD showed a preserved framework. Quenching tests, DPA probing, solvent isotope effects, and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy indicate a non-radical pathway dominated by singlet oxygen (1O2), initiated by heterolytic cleavage of the PMS peroxide bond at graphitic N sites. The catalyst retained >95% of its activity after four cycles and >93% removal in tap, river, and lake water. These findings provide a mechanistic basis for designing metal-free, matrix-tolerant persulfate activation systems for fluoroquinolone wastewater treatment.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{wang2026metalfree,
  title = {{Metal-Free Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Derived from g-C3N4/Glucose Composites for Singlet Oxygen-Dominated PMS Activation Toward Enrofloxacin Degradation}},
  author = {Peilun Wang and Lei Wang and Xinyu Zhang and Yinlong Kuang and Shuming Liu and Le Cui and Yixue Xu and Qiufang Yao},
  journal = {Nanomaterials},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.3390/nano16211427},
  url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/16/21/1427},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Metal-Free Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Derived from g-C3N4/Glucose Composites for Singlet Oxygen-Dominated PMS Activation Toward Enrofloxacin Degradation
AU  - Peilun Wang
AU  - Lei Wang
AU  - Xinyu Zhang
AU  - Yinlong Kuang
AU  - Shuming Liu
AU  - Le Cui
AU  - Yixue Xu
AU  - Qiufang Yao
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/05
JO  - Nanomaterials
DO  - 10.3390/nano16211427
UR  - https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/16/21/1427
AB  - Enrofloxacin (ENR), a widely used veterinary fluoroquinolone, persists in the environment and resists conventional treatment. A metal-free nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst (N@C) was synthesized from graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and glucose via hydrothermal compositing and carbonization at 900 °C, and used to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for ENR degradation. TEM, XRD, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, and N2 physisorption revealed a hierarchically porous architecture with a specific surface area of 578.6 m2 g−1 and 10.2 at% nitrogen. The N@C/PMS system removed over 99.9% of ENR in 20 min ([ENR]0 = 20 mg L−1, [PMS] = 0.2 mM, [N@C] = 5 mg L−1, 25 °C), with a rate constant of 0.4389 min−1. TOC removal reached 40% within 30 min at 1.0 mM PMS, and post-reaction XPS and XRD showed a preserved framework. Quenching tests, DPA probing, solvent isotope effects, and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy indicate a non-radical pathway dominated by singlet oxygen (1O2), initiated by heterolytic cleavage of the PMS peroxide bond at graphitic N sites. The catalyst retained >95% of its activity after four cycles and >93% removal in tap, river, and lake water. These findings provide a mechanistic basis for designing metal-free, matrix-tolerant persulfate activation systems for fluoroquinolone wastewater treatment.
SN  - 2079-4991
ER  -