Activation of peroxydisulfate by carbon nanotube for the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol: Contributions of surface-bound radicals and direct electron transfer

Carbon-defect-driven persulfate activation for highly efficient degradation of extracellular DNA contaminant: Radical oxidation and electron transfer pathways

Extracellular DNA (eDNA), as a dynamic repository for antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs), is a rising threat to public health. This work used a ball-milling method to enhance defect structures of activated carbon, and carbon defects exhibited an excellent capacity in persulfate (PS) activation for model eDNA and real ARGs degradation. The eDNA removal by defect-rich carbon with PS was 2.3-fold higher than that by unmilled activated carbon. The quenching experiment, electrochemical analysis and thermodynamic calculation showed that carbon defects could not only enhance the generation of SO₄^•- and ^•OH, but formed an electron transfer bridge between eDNA and PS, leading to the non-radical oxidation of eDNA. According to molecular calculations, the nitrogenous bases of DNA were the easiest sites to be oxidized by electron transfer pathway. This research offers a new way using defective carbon materials as PS activator for eDNA pollutants, and an insight into the non-radical mechanism of eDNA degradation.

Persulfate activation by sludge-derived biochar for efficient degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol: performance and mechanism

Porous sludge biochar (PSDBC) and zero-valent iron (ZVI) supported on porous sludge biochar composite (ZVI@PSDBC) were synthesized using municipal sludge through pyrolysis under N₂ atmosphere, which manifested upgraded performance in persulfate (PS) activation for 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) degradation. The 2,4-DCP (50 mg/L) could be almost completely removed within 20 min under relatively low PS dosage (0.5 mmol/L) in both PSDBC/PS and ZVI@PSDBC/PS systems, and the mineralization rate could respectively approach 73.7% and 91.6% in 60 min. Combined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization and electron spin-resonance (ESR) detection, electrochemical analysis, the radical and non-radical pathways in the catalytic systems were discussed. Graphitized structure and superior conductivity made PSDBC and ZVI@PSDBC not only act as electron donors in PS activation to create radicals (mainly SO₄^·- and ·OH), but also as "mediators" to facilitate the direct electron transfer from 2,4-DCP to the catalysts-PS complexes. The C=O groups of PSDBC and ZVI@PSDBC aided in the production of ¹O₂. Meanwhile, zero-valent iron nanoparticles promoted the formation of radicals as the reactive sites of PS, resulting in the most effective 2,4-DCP degradation in the ZVI@PSDBC/PS system. The stability and practicability of sludge biochar materials had been demonstrated in reusability and actual wastewater experiments. The findings provided a promising way for the reuse of municipal sludge and effective PS activation in wastewater treatment.

Oxygen vacancy-mediated peroxydisulfate activation and singlet oxygen generation toward 2,4-dichlorophenol degradation on specific CuO1-x nanosheets

Durable and stable removal of 2,4-dichlorophenpl (2,4-DCP) by CuO_1-x nanosheets is reported. CuO_1-x nanosheets were fabricated by a simple defect engineering strategy and greatly increased the efficiency of peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation to improve 2,4-DCP removal by introducing abundant oxygen vacancy (V_o) to produce an electron-rich surface. Results showed that CuO_1-x nanosheets exposed more V_o as active sites for PDS activation as compared with that of CuO nanoparticles, giving rise to dramatic enhancement of catalytic performance with ultrahigh reaction rate that is qualified for serving in flow filtration system, completely degrading 100 mg L^-1 of 2,4-DCP within 3 s of residence time. Besides, experimental studies confirmed that ¹O₂ generated by V_o - mediated PDS activation plays the dominate role in the degradation of contaminants. Relative to the previously reported CuO/PDS systems, the obtained CuO_1-x nanosheets demonstrated 2.7 times higher specific PDS activity and 67 times higher specific CuO activity for 2,4-DCP removal. Our study not only improves the fundamental understanding of active sites in morphologically tunable metal oxides but also proposes a guideline for future research and engineering application of persulfate.

Resource utilization of agricultural waste: Converting peanut shell into an efficient catalyst in persulfate activation for degradation of organic pollutant

Agricultural waste was characterized by large quantity and low degree of resource utilization. The peanut shell waste was converted into value-added biochar to alleviate the pollution of dyeing wastewater, which caters to the concept of resource recovery and sustainable utilization. In this work, peroxydisulfate (PDS) could be efficiently activated by biochar obtained by pyrolysis at 700 °C (BC) and Acid Orange 7 (AO7) was rapidly eliminated with 96% removal ratio in 10 min. Meanwhile, BC catalyst performed good stability and reusability. In addition, remarkable removal performance within 40 min (>94%) could be achieved in a wide range of pH (3.0-11.0). Through series characterizations, it was found that 700 °C was the critical pyrolysis temperature to prepare material with excellent property mainly attributing to large specific surface area (SSA), followed by high defect structure and rich C-O. It was speculated that radical pathway mainly especially surface-bounded radicals (SO₄^•-、•OH、O₂^-•) worked in the degradation of AO7. Specifically, abundant and typical oxygen-containing functional groups (OFGs) and defect structure catalytic sites of BC enhanced PDS activation. In addition, various radicals participated the whole degradation processes, such as the cleavage of azo bond (-NN-), hydroxylation, deamination and desulfurization.

Comparative study on heterogeneous activation of peroxydisulfate and peroxymonosulfate with black carbon derived from coal tar residues: Contribution of free radical, 1O2 and surface-bound radicals

Carbon materials draw increasing attention as metal-free catalysts for persulfates activation. Herein, the potential of black carbon (BC) derived from coal tar residues on heterogeneous activation of peroxydisulfate (PDS) and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to eliminate organic pollutants was investigated. Compared with UV/persulfates systems, persulfates/BC systems degraded 3 selected phenolic compounds (i.e. phenol, 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) and bisphenol A (BPA)) with an order of magnitude higher oxidation rates, and removed dissolved organics (DOC) with over 27% higher efficiency. In the PDS/BC system, ¹O₂ and surface-bound radicals were proved to be the dominant active species, while free radicals, ¹O₂, and surface-bound radicals were responsible for organics oxidation in the PMS/BC system. Relative contribution of different reactive species in persulfates/BC systems was pH-dependent. Surface oxygen functionalities of BC were involved in ¹O₂ generation, and its structural defects played a critical role in forming free radicals and surface-bound radicals. This study provided an in-depth insight into carbon-driven persulfates activation processes.

Carbon nanotube-based materials for persulfate activation to degrade organic contaminants: Properties, mechanisms and modification insights

Removal of harmful organic matters from environment has great environmental significance. Carbon nanotube (CNT) materials and their composites have been demonstrated to possess excellent catalytic activity towards persulfate (PS) activation for the degradation of organic contaminants. Herein, detailed information concerning the function, modification methods and relevant mechanisms of CNT in persulfate-based advanced oxidation processes (PS-AOPs) for organic pollutant elimination has been reviewed. The activation mechanism of PS by CNT might include radical and nonradical pathways and their synergistic effects. The common strategies to improve the stability and catalytic capability of CNT-based materials have also been put forward. Furthermore, their practical application potential compared with other catalysts has been described. Finally, the challenges faced by CNT in practical application are clearly highlighted. This review should be of value in promoting the research of PS activation by CNT-based materials for degradation of organic pollutants and the corresponding practical applications.