Novel sludge-sugarcane bagasse mixed biochar as an efficient activator for peroxymonosulfate to degrade bisphenol AF

Abstract

The exploitation of cost-effective and environmentally friendly biochar catalysts is of major importance for the oxidative treatment of toxic organic wastewater and the resource utilization of waste biomass. In this work, sewage sludge and bagasse waste were co-pyrolyzed into a novel biochar catalyst (SB-BC-900) for efficiently activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade bisphenol AF (BPAF) in wastewater. Compared with single sludge biochar (S-BC-900), SB-BC-900 had a larger cumulative pore volume, more oxygenated functional groups (OFGs) and higher graphitization degree, with a significantly higher catalytic capacity. SB-BC-900 enabled rapid degradation of BPAF within 10 min at a low PMS dosage (molar ratio [PMS]: [BPAF] = 2.67:1). There was mainly the non-free radical pathway dominated by singlet oxygen (1O2) in the SB-BC-900/PMS system. Graphitic carbon (sp2 C=C) and OFGs on SB-BC-900 played a crucial part in the catalytic degradation of BPAF. A green approach is provided to resource waste biomass for efficient wastewater treatment in this work.