Efficient activation of peroxymonosulfate by copper supported on polyurethane foam for contaminant degradation: Synergistic effect and mechanism

Abstract

The occurrence of tetracycline (TTC) in the environment can exacerbate microbial selection pressure and trigger bacterial resistance, raising potential risks to the ecosystem and public health. Here, we report that copper supported polyurethane foam (Cu-NC) can efficiently activate PMS to degrade TTC. Results demonstrated that the degradation rate of TTC was 91.3% and the pseudo first-order kinetic constant of 0.0762 min−1 was achieved after 40 min reaction at pH 5.0. Activation of PMS by Cu-NC was proposed to proceed via two sequential processes, which was different from the conventional mechanism for sulfate radical generation. Cu0 initially reacts with dissolved oxygen to generate H2O2 and Cu(I)(s) in situ in the solid form. Then Cu(I)(s) solves the relative instability of low-valent transition metal ions in aqueous solution, thus improving the activation efficiency of PMS. A novel mechanism for Cu(I)(s) activation of PMS to generate HO• was proposed and elucidated through outer-sphere interaction (electrostatic bonding) and acid-base theory. Superoxide radical and Cu0 accelerate the Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox, overcoming the rate-limiting step in Fenton-like reaction. Cu-NC showed an excellent cycling stability (80.8% removal efficiency after fifth run) in PMS activation with low Cu ion leaching (＜0.2 mg/L). The Cu-NC/PMS system also exhibited satisfactory removal of TTC in the presence of various water matrices. This study can deepen the understanding of the generation of HO• in the PMS activation process and provide a promising strategy for pollutants degradation in wastewater treatment.