A stable and easily prepared copper oxide catalyst for degradation of organic pollutants by peroxymonosulfate activation

Songxue Wang; Shanshan Gao; Jiayu Tian; Qiao Wang; Tianyu Wang; Xiujuan Hao; Fuyi Cui

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121995

A stable and easily prepared copper oxide catalyst for degradation of organic pollutants by peroxymonosulfate activation

J Hazard Mater. 2020 Apr 5:387:121995. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121995. Epub 2019 Dec 30.

Authors

Songxue Wang¹, Shanshan Gao², Jiayu Tian³, Qiao Wang⁴, Tianyu Wang⁵, Xiujuan Hao⁵, Fuyi Cui⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China; State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China.
² School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China.
³ School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300401, China. Electronic address: tjy800112@163.com.
⁴ School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China.
⁶ College of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China. Electronic address: cuifuyi@hit.edu.cn.

PMID: 31901849
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121995

Abstract

A direct one-step calcination preparation of CuO catalyst (CuO-3) using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as nonionic polymeric structure directing agent was developed for activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). The morphological and physicochemical properties of the CuO-3 were characterized and the catalytic activity for degradation of organic pollutants was evaluated. The resultant CuO-3 with significantly enhanced surface area exhibited excellent catalytic performance of phenolic organic pollutants degradation. The reaction mechanism of the PMS/CuO system was systematically investigated with a series of radical quenching tests and the analysis of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Quite different from traditional hydroxyl radicals (OH) and sulfate radical (SO₄^-) based advanced oxidation processes, singlet oxygen (¹O₂) was identified as the dominate reactive species responsible for the degradation of organic pollutants. Moreover, the main formation pathway of ¹O₂ was also investigated. The results indicated that the superoxide radical (O₂^-) was involved in the generation of ¹O₂ as a crucial precursor. Also, the PMS/CuO-3 system exhibited satisfactory stability and reusability under neutral conditions as well as high removal of organic pollutants in the presence of inorganic anions. This work not only provides a novel and stable preparation method for CuO catalyst, but also gives a deeper insight into the mechanisms of PMS activation by CuO.

Keywords: Copper oxide; Mechanism; Organic pollutants; Peroxymonosulfate; Singlet oxygen.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't