Comments on “Enhanced removal of organic contaminants in water by the combination of peroxymonsulfate and carbonate”, Science of the Total Environment, 647, 734–743 (2019)

Abstract

This correspondence refers to the Science of the Total Environment article by Nie et al. entitled “Enhanced removal of organic contaminants in water by the combination of peroxymonsulfate and carbonate”. Authors of this paper argue that it was CO32– that activated PMS oxidation of organic pollutants. However, the removal of pollutants was observed at pH <10 where CO32– was not a dominant species. Also, the concentration of carbonate in a solution open to atmosphere is not determined by the quantity of Na2CO3 or NaHCO3 added, but dictated by pH. These factors should not be ignored in the data interpretation.