High-density Co-Nx sites anchored on biomass-based carbon nanotubes for efficient removal of plant viruses in water

Abstract

In this study, we selected rice straw, wheat straw and corn cob as raw materials to successfully prepare cobalt-nitrogen co-doped biomass-based carbon nanotubes composites (BM@CoNCNTs) with Co-Nx sites highly dispersed on porous biochar carrier, which could effectively activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to remove tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in water. Particularly, BM@CoNCNTs-CC, with its confined carbon nanotubes and high-density Co-Nx sites, enhanced the Co2+/Co3+ cycle and direct adsorption of PMS to generate Co(IV)=O and 1O2, playing a dominant role. This led to the effective disruption of TMV coat protein and degradation of its genome within 5 min, achieving up to 6 log10 removal efficiency. Additionally, BM@CoNCNTs-CC/PMS system maintained efficient catalytic removal performance even in complex water matrices (river water and tap water). Overall, our research not only elucidates the production of efficient biomass-based catalysts for environmental remediation, but also highlights the application potential of biomass-based carbon nanotubes composites enriched with Co-Nx sites.