CoFe2O4 with MoS2‐xOy Nanosheets as a Co‐catalyst for Enhanced Activation of Peroxydisulfate in Advanced Oxidation Processes

Abstract

AbstractThe application of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) based on sulfate radicals for degrading persistent organic pollutants faces challenges due to the inefficient activation of peroxydisulfate (PDS) oxidant. Herein, a composite CoFe2O4/MoS2‐xOy (CFM) catalyst consisting of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles uniformly dispersed on the nanosheets of oxygen‐incorporated MoS2 (MoS2‐xOy) with flower‐like morphology are fabricated through a facile two‐step hydrothermal method, which results in the enhanced activation of PDS and a highly efficient degradation of phenolic pollutants. The oxygen‐doping in MoS2‐xOy leads to unsaturated sulfur and active sites on the surface of MoS2 for accelerating the rate limiting step of FeIII/FeII reduction cycle in PDS‐CFM reaction. Aiming at the refractory organic pollutants in actual coking wastewater, CFM co‐catalyst is introduced into a hydrogel made up of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and coal‐tar pitch oxides (PO) to construct a multifunctional CFM@PO/PVA hydrogel. Upon hybrid CFM@PO/PVA, the coupling of the enhanced AOP with solar‐driven interfacial vapor generation (SIVG) technology contributes to the degradation efficiency, the removal rate of phenol in solution and the total organic carbon in coking wastewater can reach 98 % and 91 %, respectively. The integration of heterogeneous AOPs with SIVG system provides a feasible strategy for the eco‐friendly efficient purification of industrial wastewater.