Photoassisted highly efficient activation of persulfate over a single-atom Cu catalyst for tetracycline degradation: Process and mechanism

Junjian Liu; He He; Zhurui Shen; Hudson Haocheng Wang; Weizun Li

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128398

Photoassisted highly efficient activation of persulfate over a single-atom Cu catalyst for tetracycline degradation: Process and mechanism

J Hazard Mater. 2022 May 5:429:128398. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128398. Epub 2022 Feb 1.

Authors

Junjian Liu¹, He He¹, Zhurui Shen², Hudson Haocheng Wang¹, Weizun Li³

Affiliations

¹ National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center on Biomass Resource Utilization, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.
² National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center on Biomass Resource Utilization, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.
³ National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center on Biomass Resource Utilization, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: liweizun@nankai.edu.cn.

PMID: 35236025
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128398

Abstract

A single-atomic-site Cu catalyst (SAS-Cu) supported on carbon nitride (CN) material was synthesized by a pyrolyzing coordinated polymer (PCP) strategy. The introduction of a single-atomic Cu site improved the charge transfer and separation efficiency. The reaction rate constant of SAS-Cu_1.0 is 4.5 times higher than that of CN. Under the condition of only 0.1 mM sodium persulfate (PS) and 0.1 g/L catalyst, the removal rate of tetracycline (TC) reached 82.5% after 30 min of LED illumination, which greatly improved the utilization of oxidant. Mechanistic analysis shows that there are free radical (•O₂^-, SO₄•^-, •OH) and nonradical pathways (¹O₂ and direct electron transfer) in the system, and they have synergistic effect. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that SAS-Cu_1.0 can optimize the adsorption and activation of PS. This work illustrates the application value of SAC combined with activated persulfate and the low energy consumption of the LED light in the field of environment, which provides a new strategy for reducing the salinity and treatment cost of treated water.

Keywords: Persulfate; Photo-assisted activation; Radical and nonradical active species; Single-atomic copper; Tetracycline.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Anti-Bacterial Agents*
Catalysis
Tetracycline*
Water

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Water
Tetracycline