Highly effective activation of peroxymonosulfate via oxygen-coordinated single-atom iron for water decontamination

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2024-04, Vol.485, p.149782, Article 149782
• Main Authors: Deng, Yanchun, Ye, Yu-Xin, He, Yingge, Xu, Jianqiao, Ke, Zhuofeng, Zhang, Xinran, Ouyang, Gangfeng, Yang, Xin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advanced oxidation process; Catalysis; Peroxymonosulfate; Single-atom catalysts; Water treatment
• ISSN: 1385-8947
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2024.149782

•An oxygen-coordinated Fe-based single-atom catalyst was successfully designed.•BPA could be removed efficiently by the post-activation pathway of oxidant.•The PMS activation pathway demonstrates high anti-interference performance.•The highest PMS utilization efficiency was achieved in this work.•BPA can be continuously removed in complex water matrices for 20 days. The traditional peroxymonosulfate-based advanced oxidation processes (PMS-AOPs) have been significantly limited by the high inputs of oxidants. Herein, an oxygen-coordinated Fe-based single-atom catalyst (Fe-N2O1/OCN) was developed as an efficient pathway to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS). This catalyst allows for a sharp decrease in PMS dosage while avoiding the release of additional sulfate ions into the treated water. The PAPO generates bisphenol-A (BPA) radicals and SO4•− species adsorbed onto Fe-N2O1/OCN, triggering a chain reaction for BPA degradation through BPA-initiated PAPO. The excellent performance of this system is attributed to the oxygen-coordinated iron center, which weakens the coordination of PMS on Fe-N2O1 and prevents its pre-activation. Furthermore, this PMS activation pathway demonstrates high anti-interference performance and can be continuously conducted in complex water matrices for 20 days, providing a promising alternative to traditional PMS-AOPs.