Abstract
Morphology optimization of catalysts has been considered as a viable strategy to improve the catalytic efficiency for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation by providing high surface area and abundant active sites. In this study, nanotubular Co3O4 (NT-Co3O4) was successfully synthesized as a PMS activator for the rapid removal of acid orange 7 (AO7) in aqueous solutions. Characterization results showed that NT-Co3O4 presented as aggregated nanotubes, with an average pore diameter of 10 nm. The specific surface area of NT-Co3O4 was as high as 41.8 m2 g−1. Catalytic experiments demonstrated that the degradation rate of AO7 in the NT-Co3O4/PMS system was 15 times greater than that in commercially available Co3O4/PMS system. The effects of various experimental parameters, including catalyst dose, PMS dose, pH, and temperature, were comprehensively investigated. The reactive species in the NT-Co3O4/PMS system were identified as sulfate radical (SO4•−) through both quenching tests and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technology, and ≡CoOH+ played an important role in PMS activation. N atoms in the AO7 molecule were found to be preferentially attacked by SO4•−. Moreover, the good stability and reusability of NT-Co3O4 were confirmed by a five-cycle AO7 removal experiment. This study provides a broader view of the potential applications of nanotubular materials to achieve highly efficient PMS activation in treating dyes in wastewater.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41671468 and 52100188), Qing Lan Project of Jiangsu Province, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
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Qingdong Qin: conceptualization, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. Lu Yan: data curation, writing—original draft. Zheming Liu: formal analysis, investigation. Yahong Liu: methodology, investigation. Jia Gu: funding acquisition, Software. Yan Xu: funding acquisition, writing—review and editing.
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Qin, Q., Yan, L., Liu, Z. et al. Efficient activation of peroxymonosulfate by nanotubular Co3O4 for degradation of Acid Orange 7: performance and mechanism. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 50135–50146 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19434-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19434-1