O-Vacancy-Rich ε-MnO 2 Synthesized at Hydrophobic Interface: An Efficient Fenton-like Catalyst for Removing Ciprofloxacin from Water.

The widespread use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in many fields has brought convenience to human lives but has also caused unavoidable environmental pollution issues. In particular, the resistance gene problem resulting from accumulating antibiotics that cannot be fully absorbed by biological individuals has been a concern; thus, it is urgent to find efficient technologies to boost the degradation efficiency of antibiotics in the environment. Here, an ε-MnO₂ catalyst was prepared by a novel droplet-interface-drying method and utilized as a Fenton-like catalyst for efficiently degrading ciprofloxacin (CIP). The ε-MnO₂ shell was formed preferentially at the gas–liquid interface and then continued to decompose into ε-MnO₂ with abundant O vacancies in the air-insulated microcavity. The XPS result confirms that this particular preparation method can regulate the content of O vacancies in the material. Compared with ε-MnO₂ samples obtained by the direct drying method (ε-MnO₂-B), the catalytic performance of ε-MnO₂ prepared by the droplet-interface-drying method (ε-MnO₂-P) is significantly improved. By activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) with the ε-MnO₂-P catalyst, the CIP degradation efficiency can reach 84.1%. The detection and analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the ε-MnO₂-P/PMS oxidation system confirms that ·OH, SO₄^·− and ¹O₂ are the main ROS for CIP degradation. This study highlights the creation of miniature hypoxic space to regulate the content of O vacancies in ε-MnO₂, providing a new idea for the synthesis of other O-vacancy-rich materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]