Efficient spontaneous molecular oxygen (O2) activation is an important technology in advanced oxidation processes. Its activation under ambient conditions without using solar energy or electricity is a very interesting topic. Low valence copper (LVC) exhibits theoretical ultrahigh activity toward O2. However, LVC is difficult to prepare and suffers from poor stability. Here, we first report a novel method for the fabrication of LVC material (P-Cu) via the spontaneous reaction of red phosphorus (P) and Cu2+. Red P, a material with excellent electron donating ability and can directly reduce Cu2+ in solution to LVC via forming Cu-P bonds. With the aid of the Cu-P bond, LVC maintains an electron-rich state and can rapidly activate O2 to produce ·OH. By using air, the ·OH yield reaches a high value of 423 μmol g-1 h-1, which is higher than traditional photocatalytic and Fenton-like systems. Moreover, the property of P-Cu is superior to that of classical nano-zero-valent copper. This work first reports the concept of spontaneous formation of LVC and develops a novel avenue for efficient O2 activation under ambient conditions.
Keywords: LVC; O2 activation; red P; spontaneous reaction; water remediation.