Tang M, Zhang Y. Enhancing the activation of persulfate using nitrogen-doped carbon materials in the electric field for the effective removal of
p-nitrophenol.
RSC Adv 2021;
11:38003-38015. [PMID:
35498075 PMCID:
PMC9044045 DOI:
10.1039/d1ra06691a]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Degradation of nonbiodegradable organic compounds into harmless substances is one of the main challenges in environmental protection. Electrically-activated persulfate process has served as an efficient advanced oxidation process (AOP) to degrade organic compounds. In this study, we synthesized three nitrogen-doped carbon materials, namely, nitrogen-doped activated carbon plus graphene (NC), and nitrogen-doped activated carbon (NAC), nitrogen-doped graphene (NGE), and three nitrogen-doped carbon material-graphite felt (GF) cathodes. The three nitrogen-doped carbon materials (NC, NGE, NAC) were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray electron spectroscopy, and nitrogen desorption-adsorption. The electron spin resonance technique was used to identify the presence of hydroxyl radicals (˙OH), sulfate radicals (SO4˙-) and singlet oxygen (1O2) species. The results showed that NC was more conducive for the production of free radicals. In addition, we applied NC-GF to an electro-activated persulfate system with the degradation of p-nitrophenol and investigated its performance for contaminant degradation under different conditions. In general, the nitrogen-doped carbon electrode electro-activated persulfate process is a promising way to treat organic pollutants in wastewater.
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