Increase In Phenol Concentration Research Articles

Anaerobic membrane bioreactor coupled with polyaluminum chloride for high-strength phenolic wastewater treatment: Robust performance and potential mechanisms

Anaerobic digestion of phenolic wastewater by anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) has revealed increasing attractiveness, but the application of AnMBRs for treating high-strength phenolic wastewater faces challenges related to elevated phenol stress and membrane fouling. In this study, the coupling of AnMBR and polyaluminum chloride (PAC) was developed for efficient treatment of high-strength phenolic wastewater. The system achieved robust removal efficiencies of phenol (99%) and quinoline (98%) at a gradual increase of phenol concentration from 1000 to 5000 mg/L and a constant quinoline concentration of 100 mg/L. The dosing of PAC could effectively control the membrane fouling rate with the transmembrane pressure (TMP) increasing rate as low as 0.17 kPa/d. The robust performances were mainly attributed to the favorable retention of functional microbes through membrane interception, while pulse cross flow buffered against phenol stress and facilitated cake layer removal. Meanwhile, the enriched core functional microbes, such as Syntrophorhabdus, Syntrophus, Mesotoga and Methanolinea, played a crucial role in further reduction of phenol stress. Notably, the significant presence of biomacromolecule degrader, such as Levilinea, contributed to membrane fouling mitigation through extracellular polymer degradation. Moreover, the enlargement of particle size distribution (PSD) by PAC was expected to mitigate membrane fouling. This study provided a promising avenue for sustainable treatment of high-strength phenolic wastewater.

Can xenobiotics support the growth of Mn(II)-oxidizing bacteria (MnOB)? A case of phenol-utilizing bacteria Pseudomonas sp. AN-1

Biogenic manganese oxides (BioMnOx) produced by Mn(II)-oxidizing bacteria (MnOB) have garnered considerable attention for their exceptional adsorption and oxidation capabilities. However, previous studies have predominantly focused on the role of BioMnOx, neglecting substantial investigation into MnOB themselves. Meanwhile, whether the xenobiotics could support the growth of MnOB as the sole carbon source remains uncertain. In this study, we isolated a strain termed Pseudomonas sp. AN-1, capable of utilizing phenol as the sole carbon source. The degradation of phenol took precedence over the accumulation of BioMnOx. In the presence of 100 mg L−1 phenol and 100 µM Mn(II), phenol was entirely degraded within 20 h, while Mn(II) was completely oxidized within 30 h. However, at the higher phenol concentration (500 mg L−1), phenol degradation reduced to 32% and Mn(II) oxidation did not appear to occur. TOC determination confirmed the ability of strain AN-1 to mineralize phenol. Based on the genomic and proteomics studies, the Mn(II) oxidation and phenol mineralization mechanism of strain AN-1 was further confirmed. Proteome analysis revealed down-regulation of proteins associated with Mn(II) oxidation, including MnxG and McoA, with increasing phenol concentration. Notably, this study observed for the first time that the expression of Mn(II) oxidation proteins is modulated by the concentration of carbon sources. This work provides new insight into the interaction between xenobiotics and MnOB, thus revealing the complexity of biogeochemical cycles of Mn and C.

The Influence of Phenol on the Growth, Morphology and Cell Division of Euglena gracilis.

Phenol, a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon with various commercial uses, is a major pollutant in industrial wastewater. Euglena gracilis is a unicellular freshwater flagellate possessing secondary chloroplasts of green algal origin. This protist has been widely used for monitoring the biological effect of various inorganic and organic environmental pollutants, including aromatic hydrocarbons. In this study, we evaluate the influence of different phenol concentrations (3.39 mM, 3.81 mM, 4.23 mM, 4.65 mM, 5.07 mM, 5.49 mM and 5.91 mM) on the growth, morphology and cell division of E. gracilis. The cell count continually decreases (p < 0.05-0.001) over time with increasing phenol concentration. While phenol treatment does not induce bleaching (permanent loss of photosynthesis), the morphological changes caused by phenol include the formation of spherical (p < 0.01-0.001), hypertrophied (p < 0.05) and monster cells (p < 0.01) and lipofuscin bodies. Phenol also induces an atypical form of cell division of E. gracilis, simultaneously producing more than 2 (3-12) viable cells from a single cell. Such atypically dividing cells have a symmetric "star"-like shape. The percentage of atypically dividing cells increases (p < 0.05) with increasing phenol concentration. Our findings suggest that E. gracilis can be used as bioindicator of phenol contamination in freshwater habitats and wastewater.

Application of Immobilized Biocatalysts in the Biotransformation of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

Among the micropollutants identified in the environment, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) dominate more and more often. This is due to both the high consumption and low efficiency of biological wastewater treatment plants, where the initial transformation of NSAIDs most often takes place. The solution to the problem may be using preparations supporting activated sludge in sewage treatment plants in the biodegradation of NSAIDs. Therefore, the research aimed to develop a biopreparation stimulating the activated sludge of the sewage treatment plant to decompose paracetamol and selected NSAIDs. This biopreparation is based on strains of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KB2, Planococcus sp. S5, Bacillus thuringiensis B1(2015b), and Pseudomonas moorei KB4 immobilized on a plant sponge. As a result of the tests, it was shown that the optimal species composition of the proposed preparation includes all tested strains immobilized on a carrier with a mass of 1.2 g/L. The system optimization showed that the optimal amount of strains on the carrier was 17 mg/g of the carrier, 15 mg/g of the carrier, 18 mg/g of the carrier, and 20 mg/g of the carrier for KB4, B1(2015b), KB2, and S5, respectively. The presence of phenol stimulated the degradation of the tested drugs, and this effect deepened with increasing phenol concentration. At the same time, the degradation rate of the mixture of NSAIDs in the presence of phenol did not depend on the amount of biomass. The lack of inhibition in the presence of an additional co-contaminant, i.e., phenol, indicates that the preparation constructed in this way has a chance of being used in sewage treatment plant systems, where introduced strains are exposed to various aromatic compounds.

A new resonance Rayleigh scattering method for phenol based on Cr(III) metal–organic framework probe and 4-aminoantipyrine reaction

Stable Cr(III) metal–organic framework (CrMOF) was prepared and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was found that in the presence of potassium periodate (KIO4), phenol (PN) reacted with 4-aminoantipyrine (AAP) to form red quinone imine (QI) product, and a resonance Rayleigh scattering energy transfer (RRS-ET) occurred between the acceptor QI and the donor CrMOF. With the increase of PN concentration, RRS-ET increased, and the RRS intensity at 500 nm decreased. Based on this, a new and simple RRS-ET method for the detection of PN was established, with a detection range of 0.01–0.15 mmol/L and a detection limit (DL) of 0.005 mmol/L. The new RRS-ET method was applied to the determination of PN in water. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was 0.94–7.43%, and the recovery was 97–107%.

Hormesis effects of phenol on growth and cellular metabolites of Chlorella sp. under different nutritional conditions using response surface methodology

The present study investigated the effects of different phenol concentrations (200 – 1000 mg L−1) towards Chlorella sp. under different culture conditions (light vs. dark) and NaNO3 concentrations (0 – 0.1 g L−1) using central composite design. Phenol induced hormesis effects on the algal growth and cellular metabolites. Nitrate was identified as a crucial factor for promoting the uptake of phenol by Chlorella cells, while light was a limiting factor for growth, but the phyco-toxicity of phenol was decreased in the dark. The pigment contents were generally increased in the treated cells to protect against the oxidative phenol stress. The incorporation of 200 mg L−1 phenol and 0.05 g L−1 NaNO3 to the illuminated cells markedly promoted biomass and lipid contents to 0.22 g L−1 and 26.26% w/w, which was 44 and 112% higher than the phenol-less control, respectively. Under the same conditions, the increase of phenol concentration to 600 mg L−1, the protein contents were increased to 18.59% w/w. Conversely, the algal cells were able to accumulate more than 60% w/w of soluble carbohydrates under dark conditions at 600 mg L−1 of phenol. Nitrate replete conditions stimulated lipid accumulation at the expense of protein biosynthesis. Furthermore, most of the treatments showed an increase of H2O2 and malonaldehyde contents, especially for the illuminated cells. However, catalase activity tended to increase under dark conditions, especially at low phenol and nitrate concentrations. This study is valuable in indicating the effects of phenol on microalgae by exploiting response surface methodology, which can be applied as a powerful tool in growth monitoring and toxicity assessment.

Investigation on the adverse impacts of electrochemically produced ClOx- on assessing the treatment performance of dimensionally stable anode (DSA) for Cl−-containing wastewater

The presence of chloride ions can facilitate the COD removal efficiency due to the involvement of active chlorine species in the electro-oxidation process, but few attentions have been paid to the negative effect of the electro-generated oxychlorides on electro-oxidation performance. In this study, the effects of oxychlorides were investigated as functions of current density and phenol concentration using DSA anodes in terms of the evaluation of the COD removal performance and the biological toxicity. The results show that oxychlorides formed in the electro-oxidation system could result in the over-evaluation of the COD removal performance. Increasing current density (15–50 mA cm−2) aggravated the over-evaluation of COD removal (4%–18%), owing to the enhancement in the electrochemical generation of oxychlorides. The increase of phenol concentration inhibited the production of oxychlorides, but the effect of oxychlorides on COD values at phenol concentration of 200 mg L−1 (82 mg L−1) was higher than that at 100 mg L−1 (51 mg L−1). The ClO3− was predominantly responsible for over-evaluation of the COD removal. In addition, bioassays with chlorella indicated that the electro-generated oxychlorides significantly increased the biological toxicity of the treated Cl−-containing wastewater. This work provides new guidance for the correct evaluation of COD treatment performance and highlight the importance of minimizing toxic inorganic chlorinated byproducts during electro-oxidation of Cl−-containing wastewater.

Leaf uptake of atmospheric monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons depends on plant species and compounds

Large amounts of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs) are emitted into the atmosphere, but it is unclear which compounds among MAHs are effectively removed by the above-ground parts of plants. Although fumigation experiments of MAHs at unrealistically high concentrations (~ppmv) have been conducted, experiments with ambient concentrations have scarcely been conducted. In the present study, MAHs, including benzene, toluene, phenol, benzaldehyde, and benzyl alcohol, with concentrations ranging from several to several tens ppbv, were individually fumigated to four plant species, and the uptake was monitored using proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. No detectable uptake was observed for benzene and toluene, but phenol, benzaldehyde, and benzyl alcohol were significantly taken up by the plants. The uptake rate normalized to fumigated concentration varied from 3 to 50 mmol m−2s−1 during the light period, depending on light intensity and compounds. The difference in uptake capability may be attributed not only to different metabolic activities but also to different values of Henry’s law constant, which regulates the partitioning of these compounds into the liquid phase in leaves. The uptake of phenol, benzaldehyde, and benzyl alcohol was affected by stomatal conductance, suggesting that stomatal opening is the main factor regulating the uptake of the three MAHs. This is the first observation that anisole is emitted when phenol is fumigated to Spathiphyllum clevelandii, suggesting that phenol is methylated to anisole within plant leaves. Anisole is more volatile than phenol, meaning that methylation enhances the emission of xenobiotics into the atmosphere by converting them to more volatile compounds. This conversion ratio decreased with an increase in phenol concentration (from 1.3 to 143 ppbv). Considering low reaction rate coefficient of anisole with OH radicals and low conversion ratio from phenol to anisole, it is concluded that plants act to effectively remove oxygenated MAHs from the atmosphere.

Improvement of phenol separation and biodegradation from saline wastewater in extractive membrane bioreactor (EMBR)

Extractive membrane bioreactor (EMBR) is a promising technology for phenol saline wastewater treatment. In this work, an electrospun polydimethylsiloxane/polymethyl methacrylate/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PDMS/PMMA/MWCNTs) membrane was firstly used in EMBR. To address low phenol transmembrane mass transfer issue, effects of wastewater condition (1.3–5.5 L/h circulation rate, 1000–4000 mg/L phenol), biomass addition (without/with pre-acclimated activated sludge) and biofilm formation (50.5–120.7 μm) were investigated. Membrane characterizations confirmed that biofilms on membrane surface gradually developed under increasing phenol concentrations, with simultaneously increased thickness and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) excretion. Results showed phenol transmembrane mass transfer rates with activated sludge and formed biofilm increased 21.6–31.7% compared to those without activated sludge. Finally, 100% removal of permeated phenol and 99.96% rejection of salt were achieved under wastewater circulation rate of 4.4 L/h with 1000–4000 mg/L phenol and 10 g/L sodium chloride. Relevant findings are of significance in promoting the EMBR application in organic-inorganic composite wastewater treatment.

The effect of interactions between soil compaction and phenol contamination on plant growth characteristics: Implications for scaling bioremediation at industrial sites

In phenol contaminated soils from an industrial site, soil compaction and soil chemical contaminants influenced germination, emergence, and early plant growth (roots and shoots) for Thrift (Ameria maratima) and Blackbutt oats (Avena sativa). The specific effects were of soil compaction (low, 100 psi and high, 800 psi) at two concentrations of phenol (biotreated, ∼200 mg kg−3; untreated, ∼1150 mg kg−3). Plant responses to compaction and phenol varies between the two species. Emergence of Thrift showed greater sensitivity to increasing soil compaction but only under high phenol concentrations. Low phenol inhibited Thrift root length, as is the case with Balckbutt oats, although high phenol had no significant impact on Thrift. While shoot length of Blackbutt oats is not significantly affected by increasing soil compaction, it is negatively impacted at the increased phenol concentrations in the untreated soils indicating an interaction effect with compaction. This is the first study that examines the impact of soil contamination on oats. The oat variety tested had known drought tolerance and hardiness indicating an ability to withstand compaction, and which may explain those characteristics. Thrift was most resistant to contamination which is consistent with its previously reported tolerance of pollutants. Implications of the study are that Blackbutt oats represent a potential candidate species for land rehabilitation under high compaction conditions such as at degraded soil sites at decommissioned mining operations, polluted industrial sites, or degraded (compacted) agricultural land.

Appraising the stress responses in Azolla filiculoides elicited by short-term exposure of phenol

Phenolic compounds comprise one of the major water pollutants. Aquatic plants are mainly affected by the toxic effects of these pollutants. In this purview, the present study attempted to study the effect of phenolic compounds on a floating fern - Azolla filiculoides, which commonly grows in stagnant water bodies. Crystalline phenol was taken as a reference compound; four different concentrations viz. 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 mM of which were applied to the plants for shorter periods of 3 and 6 days, followed by the assessment of morphological, physiological, and biochemical responses of the plants compared to the control set (0 mM). Relative growth rate, relative frond number, relative frond surface area, relative water content, chlorophyll a, and carotenoids decreased significantly with the increase in phenol concentrations and the duration of treatment. Also, the significant increase in frond necrotic area, electrolyte leakage, and malondialdehyde content exhibited the negative impacts of phenols. On the contrary, an increase in proline, total sugars, antioxidative enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase indicated an inherent tolerance mechanism. Moreover, H2O2 quantification, also supported by its in situ localization, presented the extent of phenol toxicity. However, contemplating the overall findings, it could be suggested that phenol-treated plants maintained their growth and physiological responses at par with the control plants, up to a concentration of 1 mM phenol.

Solubilization of Phenol in Micelles of (Ethylene Oxide)78(Propylene Oxide)30(Ethylene Oxide)78 Pluronic F68 Tri-Block Copolymer in Aqueous Suspensions

The effect of phenol solubilization on the behavior of (ethylene oxide)78-propylene oxide)30-(propylene oxide)78 (EO78-PO30-EO78) tri-block copolymer, Pluronic F68 (F68), in aqueous suspensions was investigated by rheology. We have shown that for the ternary F68/water/phenol mixture, the rheological properties and the conformational changes of F68 depended strongly on the amounts of phenol. The 20% F68 suspensions begin with a Newtonian behavior for small amounts of phenol and lose this behavior to become a non-Newtonian liquid plastic with increasing phenol concentrations (50% phenol); then the suspension became Newtonian again for 75% and 100% phenol. The results are attributed to the addition of phenol resulting in a sphere-to-rod micellar transition.

Ultrasound‐assisted synthesis of FeTiO3/GO nanocomposite for photocatalytic degradation of phenol under visible light irradiation

Phenolic compounds are dangerous pollutants in industrial effluents that have caused many human and environmental problems. These compounds are resistant to decomposition conventional biological systems. Photocatalytic treatment is amongst the most efficient technique for phenol removal from aqueous media. In this study, FeTiO3/GO nanocomposite was synthesized through the ultrasound‐assisted method. Structural, morphological, and optical properties of the synthesized nanocomposite were characterized by TEM, XRD, EDS, XPS, BET, TGA, FTIR, and UV–visible techniques. Optimum conditions for phenol photocatalytic degradation were obtained in 3% of GO content, 0.75 g/L nanocomposite dosage, and pH = 8. The degradation efficiency decreased by increasing phenol concentrations and complete mineralization was observed after 240 min of irradiation in optimum conditions. The effect of scavengers indicated that superoxide and hydroxyl radicals had the main role in the photodegradation process. The hindrance effect of inorganic ions was obtained asHCO3- >Cl- > SO42− >NO3-. Our experimental results put forward the FeTiO3/GO nanocomposite as a highly stable catalyst that can successfully remove phenolic compounds from aqueous solutions. Only a 10.8% decrease was observed in phenol degradation efficiency after five cycles, showing high recyclability of the FeTiO3/GO nanocomposite.

Yield coefficient for the growth of Pseudomonas sp. AQ5-04 at various concentrations of phenol

Phenol is widely used by many industries in Malaysia, and is one of the highly toxic environmental pollutants with levels exceeding the regulatory standard that have been reported in Malaysia. A phenol-degrading bacterium; Pseudomonas sp. AQ5-04, a metabolically versatile xenobiotic-degrading bacterium, has been isolated from a local contaminated site. The bacterium was able to withstand a high concentration of phenol. This work aims to determine the effect of concentration and to establish the yield factor on phenol as a carbon source. It was established that the isolate can degrade up to 900 mg/L phenol within 72 h; it was discovered that the yield factor (YX/S) varied between 0.3 to 0.6 mg cells per mg phenol for different initial phenol concentrations with increasing phenol concentrations resulting in a lower yield. This shows that growth on phenol is strongly inhibitory and resulted in low yield at an inhibitory concentration of phenol. Key words: Pseudomonas sp. AQ5-04, yield factor, phenol, inhibitory concentration.

English

Phenol is widely used by many industries in Malaysia, and is one of the highly toxic environmental pollutants with levels exceeding the regulatory standard that have been reported in Malaysia. A phenol-degrading bacterium; Pseudomonas sp. AQ5-04, a metabolically versatile xenobiotic-degrading bacterium, has been isolated from a local contaminated site. The bacterium was able to withstand a high concentration of phenol. This work aims to determine the effect of concentration and to establish the yield factor on phenol as a carbon source. It was established that the isolate can degrade up to 900 mg/L phenol within 72 h; it was discovered that the yield factor (YX/S) varied between 0.3 to 0.6 mg cells per mg phenol for different initial phenol concentrations with increasing phenol concentrations resulting in a lower yield. This shows that growth on phenol is strongly inhibitory and resulted in low yield at an inhibitory concentration of phenol. &nbsp; Key words: Pseudomonas sp. AQ5-04, yield factor, phenol, inhibitory concentration.

Inhibitory effect of phenol on wastewater ammonification

This study aimed to elucidate inhibitory effect of phenol on ammonification of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in wastewater. Laboratory incubation experiments were conducted using primary and secondary effluent samples spiked with phenol (100–1000 mg/L) and inoculated with mixed cultures, pure strains of phenol-degrading bacteria (Acinetobacter sp. and Pseudomonas putida F1), and/or an ammonia oxidizing bacterium (Nitrosomonas europaea). DON concentration was monitored with incubation time. Phenol suppressed the ammonification rate of DON up to 62.9%. No or minimal ammonification inhibition was observed at 100 mg/L of phenol while the inhibition increased with increasing phenol concentration from 250 to 1000 mg/L. The inhibition was curtailed by the presence of the phenol-degrading bacteria. DON was ammonified in the samples inoculated with only N. europaea and the ammonification was also inhibited by phenol. The findings suggest that high phenol in wastewater could result in low ammonification and high DON in the effluent.

Photocatalytic Degradation of Phenol Using Photodeposited Pt Nanoparticles on Titania.

In this study, the photodeposition synthesized Pt-titania (Pt/P25) photocatalysts with various amount of Pt (0.5-5.0 wt.%) were characterized in detail by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis (BET), inductively coupled plasma with optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-EOS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS UV-vis), attenuated total reflection (ATR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activity of the investigated catalysts was studied towards the photocatalytic degradation of phenol. The best performance was obtained for the 3.0 wt.% Pt/TiO₂. The concentration of photocatalyst, the initial phenol concentration and pH value of the reaction solution was studied in detail. The obtained results show that the reaction rate increases with increasing catalyst concentration and decreases with increasing phenol concentration. The highest degradation efficiency was observed for a neutral pH. In overall, the results of this study show that the Pt/TiO₂ photocatalysts can efficiently improve the decomposition of phenol in the presence of UV light.

Bioleaching of copper from large printed circuit boards for synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid.

The present study described a process for copper (Cu) bioleaching from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs). The 45 (± 0.18) mg/g Cu was found in waste PCBs. Acidiphilium acidophilum (NCIM 5344) (A. acidophilum) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were used for two-step Cu bioleaching. A. acidophilum showed growth in 9K medium containing glucose and sulfur. During the growth the bacteria decreased medium pH from 3.5 (± 0.01) to 1.0 (± 0.02) in 10days. The results showed that it required 2.5h to leach all of the Cu from single PCB piece using 60mL culture supernatant + 15mL H2O2 at 60°C temperature and static condition. The leached Cu was further used to synthesize the organic-inorganic hybrid (OIH). For this study, egg white was used as a polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzyme source. The morphological, elemental, and structural analysis was carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Further the PPO enzyme activity was tested in OIH and crude enzyme (egg white). The egg white showed 0.00014 (± 0.00001) U/mg/min PPO activity while OIH showed 0.005 (± 0.00016) U/mg/min PPO activity. The pH7 and 30°C temperature were found to be optimum for PPO enzyme activity. The OIH was applied for phenol degradation. It degraded 95 (± 0.49)% of phenol (5mM). The efficiency of phenol degradation decreased with an increase in phenol concentration.

Performance and microbial community in a single-stage simultaneous carbon oxidation, partial nitritation, denitritation and anammox system treating synthetic coking wastewater under the stress of phenol.

As a highly toxic pollutant, phenol is typically present in some high-strength nitrogenous wastewater. In this study, a synthetic coking wastewater with 400mgL-1 ammonia-nitrogen and 50-250mgL-1 phenol was treated. Results showed that simultaneous carbon oxidation, partial nitritation, denitritation and anammox (SCONDA) was successfully achieved by step-wise phenol addition. At 200mgL-1 phenol, 99.8% phenol, 97.5% COD and 89.8% nitrogen could be together removed. However, further increase in phenol concentration caused significant deterioration of the short-terms nitrogen removal efficiency. High-throughput sequencing revealed remarkable evolution in microbial biodiversity, community composition, especially functional species at different phenol concentrations. When the phenol addition was increased from 200 to 250mgL-1, the relative abundance of Candidatus Kuenenia as predominant anammox species decreased by 87.1%, while phenol-degrading bacteria was increasingly abundant. Furthermore, the removal mechanism of phenol and nitrogen was elucidated by the collaboration among different key functional microbial consortia.

Kinetics of PMS activation by graphene oxide and biochar

Carbon-based materials have been studied as metal-free catalyst for persulfate activation. At present, the activation performance of carbon materials for persulfate is usually characterized by the removal efficiency of organic pollutants. However, the kinetics of persulfate activation by carbon materials has not been investigated. In this study, the kinetics of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation by reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and sludge-derived biochar (BC) were investigated. The experimental results showed that the kinetics of PMS activation followed the two-phase kinetic model (fast phase (a1) and slow phase (a2)). In the absence of organic pollutants, the a1 and a2 were calculated to be 0.320 and 0.0471 min−1 for BC, respectively, and 0.322 and 0.0850 min−1 for RGO, respectively. Based on the characterization of BC and RGO, it can be concluded that the fast phase was mainly due to the formation of surface-bound active species. Competitive adsorption between PMS and targeted pollutants decreased the kinetic constant for the first phase (a1) and the kinetic constant for the second phase (a2) for both BC and RGO. The value of a1 and a2 increased for BC after the addition of phenol, due to the enhanced PMS activation by surface adsorbed phenol. The increase of phenol concentration decreased slightly the value of a1 and a2. The increase of PMS concentration increased significantly the value of a1 and a2. The decrease of a1 and a2 in repeated use of carbon materials could be due to the decrease of oxygen-containing functional groups and defect intensity.