Boron-doping accelerated Cu(II)/Cu(I) cycle for enhancing peroxymonosulfate activation

Abstract

• B-Cu x O-4 exhibited excellent catalytic ability and stability. • Boron doping regulates strongly affected the ratio of Cu(Ⅱ) and Cu(Ⅰ). • The cycle of Cu(Ⅱ) and Cu(Ⅰ) was accelerated by B-doping. • The primary reactive species were 1 O 2 , SO 4 ·- , and ·OH. • The Cu(Ⅱ)/Cu(Ⅰ) accelerates the radicals and non-radical synergistic pathways. The synergistic effect of radicals and non-radical pathways has attracted much attention for pollutant removal in complex water environments. A novel B-doped CuO/Cu 2 O composite material (B-Cu x O) was synthesized to activate PMS for the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA). XPS and FT-IR proved that B was doped into the Cu x O, which changed the proportion of Cu(Ⅱ) and Cu(Ⅰ). As a result, the cycle of Cu(Ⅱ)/Cu(Ⅰ) was promoted and the kinetic degradation rate of BPA increased by 12 times. The radicals quenching experiments and EPR verified the effects of radicals (·OH and SO 4 ·- ) and non-radical ( 1 O 2 ) pathways in the pollution degradation processes. The results show that B doping accelerated the Cu(Ⅱ)/Cu(Ⅰ) cycle, and at the same time realized the synergistic effect of radicals and non-radical. The PMS/B-Cu x O system exhibited consistent performance in a wide pH range of 5–11. The toxicity evaluation of the transformation products among BPA solutions was studied. This study provided a novel method for accelerating the catalysis of radicals and non-radical synergy.