Search

• Coffee grounds as a carbon source, it's environmentally sustainable. • High tetracycline removal rate is due to 1O 2 and electron transfer. • Point defects and carbonyl groups were critical for 1O 2 and electron transfer. • N/S-codoped carbons may provide an advanced strategy for green wastewater treatment. Nitrogen and sulfur-codoped porous carbons (SNCs) with porous structures and high surface areas were successfully synthesized employing coffee grounds, sodium bicarbonate and L-cysteine monohydrochloride as precursors. The SNCs were highly efficient for adsorption and exhibited outstanding catalytic performance for the oxidative degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TeC) solutions, especially at a calcined temperature of 700 °C (SNCs-700). The radical quenching, advanced in situ electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technology, PS decomposition rates and Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV) indicated that the excellent oxidative effectiveness of the PS/SNCs-700 system originated from the nonradical pathways (singlet oxygen (1O 2) and electron transfer). It's supposed that N and S doping can effectively create point defects, which could generate 1O 2 , while carbonyl groups were determined to be the main active sites contributing to the electron transfer. TeC degradation intermediates were also identified, three degradation pathways, revealing that the pre-adsorption significantly accelerated the nonradical oxidation pathways. This approach provides an innovative method for the large-scale production and application of high-quality catalysts in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]