High performance and unique mechanism of carbon dots modified iron-copper bimetals for antibiotics degradation.

Antibiotics are among the most important emerging contaminants, which present in medical waste water, livestock wastewater and domestic sewage. Leveraging the multifunctional groups and superior electron diffusion of carbon dots (C-dots), we developed a C-dots modified micron-scale iron-copper bimetals (mFe/C/Cu) for highly efficient degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX). With an optimal C-dots loading of 0.5 %, the mFe/0.5 %C/Cu system achieved a 92.7 % removal of SMX within 30 min, significantly outperforming mFe/Cu (72.5 %) and mFe (51.0 %), and maintained over 90 % efficiency in real water matrices. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and quenching experiments confirmed that mFe/0.5 %C/Cu generated superoxide radicals (O2•-) and hydrogen radicals (H∗) via a one-electron pathway. Oxygen temperature-programmed desorption and density functional theory calculations further revealed that mFe/0.5 %C/Cu effectively activated O2 to yield reactive oxygen species, whereas mFe/Cu and mFe underwent mainly oxidative passivation. The synergy between O2•- and H∗ enabled a novel SMX degradation route involving cleavage of the isoxazole ring into smaller molecular fragments. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and XPS analysis provided direct evidence that C-dots modulated the electron transfer mode, reducing charge-transfer resistance and promoting Fe2+ and Cu + regeneration, thereby significantly enhancing electron utilization efficiency. This work demonstrates the key role of C-dots in boosting the performance of iron-based materials for aquatic pollutant remediation.