Expanding the pH range of Fenton-like reactions for pollutant degradation: The impact of acidic microenvironments

Shi-Lin Xu; Wei Wang; Yi Song; Rui Tang; Zhen-Hu Hu; Xiao Zhou; Han-Qing Yu

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2024.122851

Expanding the pH range of Fenton-like reactions for pollutant degradation: The impact of acidic microenvironments

Water Res. 2024 Nov 24:270:122851. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122851. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shi-Lin Xu¹, Wei Wang¹, Yi Song¹, Rui Tang², Zhen-Hu Hu², Xiao Zhou³, Han-Qing Yu⁴

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
² Anhui Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Rural Water Environment and Resources, School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. Electronic address: zhoux08@ustc.edu.cn.
⁴ CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. Electronic address: hqyu@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 39612819
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122851

Abstract

Heterogeneous Fenton reactions offer the opportunities to overcome iron sludge accumulation and limited recyclability of existing homogeneous Fenton process, but the sharp attenuation in their reactivity at near-neutral and even higher pH conditions, still remains a formidable challenge. In this work, we report a versatile and robust approach to create a local acidic microenvironment on BiOI with graphene oxide bonding, enabling the heterogeneous Fenton (BiOI@rGO/H₂O₂) system to sustainably degrade organic pollutants over a wide pH range (3.0-10.0). Notably, BiOI@rGO exhibits a superior catalytic activity (∼100 % removal) and robust durability (over ten cycles) in degrading bisphenol A and tetracycline, even in real wastewater scenarios. Furthermore, immobilizing the BiOI@rGO on carbon felt to establish a continuous flow-through device achieves a stable treatment performance with a degradation efficiency exceeding 98 % for micropollutants over a continuous operation. This work provides a paradigm for constructing an acidic microenvironment on the catalyst to surmount the pH limitations of the heterogeneous Fenton reactions for advanced water purification.

Keywords: Acidic microenvironment; BiOI; Graphene oxide; Heterogeneous Fenton catalysis; Water purification.