Coordination-driven boron and copper on carbon nitride for peroxymonosulfate activation to efficiently degrade organic contaminants

Abstract

Effective treatment of toxic organic pollutants is crucial to the safety of water environment. Herein, we ingeniously constructed coordination-driven boron (B) and copper (Cu) on carbon nitride to solve the trouble that kinetically sluggish reduction reaction of sites on catalysts in heterogeneous Fenton-like systems for efficient toxic organic wastewater treatment. The electrons of the contaminants are transferred from B to Cu in catalytic processes, which facilitates the cycling of the Cu(I)/Cu(II) redox pairs, and the degradation rate of Bisphenol A (BPA) increases by 16 times. Singlet oxygen (1O2) and surface-active complexes play essential roles in the reaction. The system could effectively reduce the toxicity of BPA and has excellent stability and adaptability under different environmental conditions (pH, humic acid, and anions). This work provides insight into exploiting coordination-driven effect between sites in Fenton-like systems for efficient wastewater treatment.