Insight into the selection of oxidant in persulfate activation system: The effect of the target pollutant properties

Xuerong Zhou; Eydhah Almatrafi; Shiyu Liu; Huchuan Yan; Dengsheng Ma; Shixian Qian; Lei Qin; Huan Yi; Yukui Fu; Ling Li; Mingming Zhang; Fuhang Xu; Hanxi Li; Chengyun Zhou; Ming Yan; Guangming Zeng; Cui Lai

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132363

Insight into the selection of oxidant in persulfate activation system: The effect of the target pollutant properties

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Oct 15:460:132363. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132363. Epub 2023 Aug 22.

Authors

Xuerong Zhou¹, Eydhah Almatrafi², Shiyu Liu¹, Huchuan Yan¹, Dengsheng Ma¹, Shixian Qian¹, Lei Qin¹, Huan Yi¹, Yukui Fu¹, Ling Li¹, Mingming Zhang¹, Fuhang Xu¹, Hanxi Li¹, Chengyun Zhou³, Ming Yan³, Guangming Zeng⁴, Cui Lai⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University and Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, PR China.
² Center of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy and Power Systems, Center of Excellence in Desalination Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering-Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
³ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University and Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, PR China; Center of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy and Power Systems, Center of Excellence in Desalination Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering-Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University and Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, PR China; Center of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy and Power Systems, Center of Excellence in Desalination Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering-Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: zgming@hnu.edu.cn.
⁵ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University and Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control, Hunan University, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, PR China. Electronic address: laicui@hnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37633017
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132363

Abstract

As a rising branch of advanced oxidation processes, persulfate activation has attracted growing attention. Unlike catalysts that have been widely studied, the selection of persulfate is previously overlooked. In this study, the affecting factors of persulfates were studied. The effect of target pollutant properties on superior persulfate species (the species with a higher degradation efficiency) was investigated by multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/persulfate catalytic systems. Innovatively, the E_HOMO (or vertical ionization potential (VIP)) value of the target pollutant was proposed to be an index to judge the superior persulfate species, and the threshold is VIP= 6.397-6.674 eV, E_HOMO= -8.035∼- 7.810 eV, respectively. To be specific, when the VIP of phenolic compounds is higher (or E_HOMO of phenolic compounds is lower) than the threshold, the catalytic performance of peroxymonosulfate would be higher than that of peroxydisulfate. Moreover, the effects of coexisting cations on peroxydisulfate superior species were further investigated. It was illustrated that the hydrated cation radius of coexisting cations would influence the pollutant degradation efficiency under some circumstances. This study provides a new approach to improve the cost of persulfate activation systems and promotes the underlying downstream application of persulfate activation systems.

Keywords: Multiwalled carbon nanotube; Peroxydisulfate; Peroxymonosulfate; Phenolic compounds; Superior persulfate species.