The catalytic destruction of antibiotic tetracycline by sulfur-doped manganese oxide (S–MgO) nanoparticles

The present study evaluates the efficacy of S-doped MgO (S-MgO) as compared with the plain MgO as a catalyst for destructive removal of tetracycline (TTC) in aqueous solutions. The S-MgO had around 6% S in its structure. Doping MgO with S caused increase in surface oxygen vacancy defects. Adding S-MgO (12 g/L) to a TTC aqueous solution (50 mg/L) caused removal of around 99% TTC at the neutral pH (ca. 5.1) and a short reaction time of 10 min. In comparison, plain MgO could remove only around 15% of TTC under similar experimental conditions. Diffusing O2 into the TTC solution under the reaction with S-MgO resulted in a considerable improvement of TTC removal as compared to diffusing N2. Complete removal of TTC and 86.4% removal of its TOC could be obtained using 2 g/L S-MgO nanoparticles. The removal of TTC increased with the increase in solution temperature. The presence of nitrate, sulfate and chloride did not considerably affect the removal of TTC using S-MgO while TTC removal significantly decreased at the presence of bicarbonate and phosphate. The S-MgO was a stable and reusable catalyst exhibiting much higher catalytic activity than plain MgO for the TTC destruction. Accordingly, S-MgO is an emerging and efficient catalyst for catalytic decomposition and mineralization of such pharmaceutical compounds as TTC under atmospheric temperature and pressure. •Tetracycline was destructed by MgO and S-MgO under mild catalytic reaction conditions.•S-MgO performed much better than MgO in destruction of tetracycline.•Tetracycline was efficiently mineralized by S-MgO within a short contact time.•S-MgO was stable and durable catalyst for destruction of emerging water contaminants.