Heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate by amorphous boron for degradation of bisphenol S

Penghui Shao; Xiaoguang Duan; Jun Xu; Jiayu Tian; Wenxin Shi; Shanshan Gao; Mingjun Xu; Fuyi Cui; Shaobin Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.10.020

Heterogeneous activation of peroxymonosulfate by amorphous boron for degradation of bisphenol S

J Hazard Mater. 2017 Jan 15;322(Pt B):532-539. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.10.020. Epub 2016 Oct 13.

Authors

Penghui Shao¹, Xiaoguang Duan², Jun Xu³, Jiayu Tian⁴, Wenxin Shi¹, Shanshan Gao¹, Mingjun Xu¹, Fuyi Cui¹, Shaobin Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, PR China.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia.
³ Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang 473061, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Motor Vehicle Biofuel Technology, Nanyang 473000, PR China. Electronic address: xujunhit@126.com.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, PR China. Electronic address: tjy800112@163.com.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia. Electronic address: Shaobin.wang@curtin.edu.au.

PMID: 27776864
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.10.020

Abstract

Recently, tremendous efforts have been devoted to developing carbon-based metal-free catalysts as an alternative to metal-based catalysts for remediation of emerging contaminants. However, further investigations have demonstrated that the durability of carbocatalysts is poor. Therefore, it is extremely desirable to seek a novel metal-free catalyst with high efficiency and superb stability. Herein, we first discovered that amorphous boron (A-boron) can be used as a metal-free catalyst for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to produce free radicals for effective degradation of bisphenol S (BPS), which is a newly-occurring estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemical. It exhibited outstanding catalytic activity and superior stability as comparing to metal-based and metal-free carbon-based catalysts. Moreover, many other typical organic pollutants in water such as bisphenol F, sulfamethoxazole, rhodamine B and methyl orange can also be effectively decomposed in A-boron/PMS oxidative system. The effects of reaction parameters on BPS degradation were systematically investigated. The catalytic oxidation mechanism was proposed. The intriguing catalytic feature of A-boron discovered in this study will provide new opportunities for the future development of A-boron based materials with promising applications in water remediation.

Keywords: Amorphous boron; Bisphenol S; Heterogeneous catalysis; Peroxymonosulfate.