Catalytic degradation of BPA by bamboo leaf-derived KOH-activated porous biocarbon loaded with CoFe2O4-activated peroxymonosulfate

Abstract

Multiphase catalysts with wide pH, high environmental adaptability, and high activity are urgently needed for the water's contaminants to break down. In this study, the biomass waste bamboo leaves were used as the carbon source and activated by KOH to further increase the active sites (the adsorption capacity was 8.06 times that of the unactivated material) loaded with cobalt ferrite composite catalyst CoFe2O4@PBCX, which could effectively activate the PMS to realize the degradation of BPA. The CoFe2O4@PBCX + PMS system demonstrated remarkable BPA degradation across a broad starting pH range (3–11), and 100 % BPA removal was achieved in 9 min at pH = 11. CoFe2O4@PBCX achieved excellent BPA removal performance under high salinity conditions (200 mM). The toxicity of BPA and its oxidation intermediates was predicted by the ECOSAR model, which proved that BPA was eventually degraded into non-toxic products. In the bisphenol a degradation device, no catalyst deactivation was observed after 14 h, and 80 % removal was maintained after 40 h. This study showed that the synthesized CoFe2O4@PBCX is a highly efficient PMS activation catalyst, which has the potential of low cost, high efficiency, and ecological friendliness in practical wastewater treatment.