Bioinspired hierarchical electrospun TiO2/BiOI nanofibers for multifunctional photocatalytic PMS activation: Antibiotics and microplastics removal
Abstract
Emerging antibiotics and microplastics are poorly removed by conventional treatment processes, requiring oxidation processes that address both dissolved and particulate contaminants. Hierarchical electrospun TiO 2 / BiOI nanofibers (TBO1-TBO4; BiOI growth 2-16 h) were engineered for photocatalytic peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation under UV-A (365 nm) and visible light. At pH 7 and 20 • C (sulfamethoxazole, SMX, 5 ppm; catalyst 0.50 g L -1 ; PMS 2.5 mM), TBO3 achieved near-complete, blank-corrected total organic carbon (TOC) removal (≥99%) in 120 min under visible light + PMS. For a four-component multipollutant solution (20 ppm total), TBO3 reached near-complete TOC removal after blank correction (reported as ≥99%, with residual TOC close to the method quantification limit) in 120 min and maintained activity over nine cycles under visible light + PMS (≤0.7 %age-point change; leaching below detection), whereas UV-A + PMS decreased to 85.3% by cycle 9 with ppb-level leaching. Quenching and probe assays indicate a radical-accessible PMS-assisted oxidation network; strong suppression by tert-butanol and methanol supports major • OH-accessible oxidation with a sulfate-radical-type contribution. Under visible light (465-470 nm) + PMS, cross-linked polystyrene (PS) microplastics (20 ppm solids) underwent surface erosion, cracking, delamination, and fragmentation, accompanied by release of dissolved/sub-10 μm carbonaceous products in scaled-up tests, supporting partial oxidative transformation of particulate microplastics.
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BibTeX
@article{huidobro2026bioinspired,
title = {{Bioinspired hierarchical electrospun TiO2/BiOI nanofibers for multifunctional photocatalytic PMS activation: Antibiotics and microplastics removal}},
author = {Laura Huidobro and Mahmoud Abid and Mikhael Bechelany and Elvira Gómez and Albert Serrà},
journal = {Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.jece.2026.123947},
url = {https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-05773345v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Bioinspired hierarchical electrospun TiO2/BiOI nanofibers for multifunctional photocatalytic PMS activation: Antibiotics and microplastics removal
AU - Laura Huidobro
AU - Mahmoud Abid
AU - Mikhael Bechelany
AU - Elvira Gómez
AU - Albert Serrà
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
DO - 10.1016/j.jece.2026.123947
UR - https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-05773345v1
AB - Emerging antibiotics and microplastics are poorly removed by conventional treatment processes, requiring oxidation processes that address both dissolved and particulate contaminants. Hierarchical electrospun TiO 2 / BiOI nanofibers (TBO1-TBO4; BiOI growth 2-16 h) were engineered for photocatalytic peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation under UV-A (365 nm) and visible light. At pH 7 and 20 • C (sulfamethoxazole, SMX, 5 ppm; catalyst 0.50 g L -1 ; PMS 2.5 mM), TBO3 achieved near-complete, blank-corrected total organic carbon (TOC) removal (≥99%) in 120 min under visible light + PMS. For a four-component multipollutant solution (20 ppm total), TBO3 reached near-complete TOC removal after blank correction (reported as ≥99%, with residual TOC close to the method quantification limit) in 120 min and maintained activity over nine cycles under visible light + PMS (≤0.7 %age-point change; leaching below detection), whereas UV-A + PMS decreased to 85.3% by cycle 9 with ppb-level leaching. Quenching and probe assays indicate a radical-accessible PMS-assisted oxidation network; strong suppression by tert-butanol and methanol supports major • OH-accessible oxidation with a sulfate-radical-type contribution. Under visible light (465-470 nm) + PMS, cross-linked polystyrene (PS) microplastics (20 ppm solids) underwent surface erosion, cracking, delamination, and fragmentation, accompanied by release of dissolved/sub-10 μm carbonaceous products in scaled-up tests, supporting partial oxidative transformation of particulate microplastics.
SN - 2213-3437
SN - 2213-2929
ER -