In this study, the as-synthesized europium (Eu) doped BiFeO3 (EBFO-3) catalyst was employed to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and achieved marked improvement (26.7 %) compared to the BiFeO3 (BFO) catalyst in the degradation of target pollutant ofloxacin (OFL) under identical conditions. The substitution of BiⅢ (ionic radius 1.03 Å) with smaller EuⅢ (ionic radius 0.95 Å) caused larger lattice distortions to promote the formation of more oxygen vacancies and tremendously enhance the production of singlet oxygen (1O2) up to 67.44 % of total reactive oxygen species (ROS). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further revealed that the electronic structure of iron active sites was effectively modulated to induce reduced covalency of Fe-O bonds, an increase in exposed Fe active sites, and the introduction of additional Eu active sites by partially A-site substituting the more electronegative BiⅢ (2.02) with less electronegative EuⅢ (1.19). The activation of PMS into dominantly selective 1O2 through the substitution of BFO with A-site Eu could improve the applicability of catalysts in treating pollutants in complex water environments, significantly reduce the toxicity of intermediates/products, and provide good insights for the field of water treatment.
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