Environmental Pollution Treatment Research Articles

Biosynthesis of PbO nanoparticles via Adhatoda vesica (Justicia adhatoda) leaves extract for antimicrobial and photocatalytic applications

Research applications in biology and the environment can benefit greatly from nanoscience and nanotechnology. Aqueous leaf extract of Adhatoda vesica (AV) mediated the formation of lead oxide (PbO) nanoparticles in this study. A XRD analysis confirmed that the lead oxide nanoparticles (PbO NPs) synthesized from leaves extract have a crystalline structure. UV–vis spectroscopy study of colloidal PbO nanoparticles absorption revealed the greatest absorption bands, and the photoluminescence (PL) emission spectrum revealed a broad nature of visible emission peaks with high surface defects. By analyzing PbO nanoparticles using the fourier transform infrared method (FTIR), the leaf extract demonstrated the presence of functional peaks. It was evident from the SEM images that most of the PbO NPs had a spherical, irregular sponge-like shape. Additionally, the PbO nanostructures were tested for their antibacterial activity against Escherichia Coli, and a high level of antibacterial activity was observed, indicating their suitability for antimicrobial applications. PbO NPs have been evaluated for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye (MB) under UV irradiation and have produced indications that the synthesized material is suitable for photocatalytic degradation. The Adhatoda vesica is used as medicine and enhances lead oxide nanomaterials' antibacterial properties. The research is focused on focusing on environmental pollution control and treatment of different diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis, and other diseases through applications of Ayurveda, Siddha, Homeopathy, and Unani. A study based on these findings revealed that Adhatoda vesica (Justicia adhatoda) leaves extract can be utilized as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to producing lead oxide nanoparticles.

EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NO REMOVAL USING THE PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVATED MATERIAL S-TiO2/DIATOMITE

S-TiO2 typically exhibits high photocatalytic activity, but its powdered form makes it difficult to apply practically in environmental pollution treatment. Diatomite from different locations varies in purity and integrity of the diatomaceous earth, making it a suitable catalyst support for synthesizing mixed-phase S-TiO2 catalysts using the sol-gel technique. The synthesized photocatalyst exhibits photocatalytic activity similar to that of S-TiO2. The NO removal efficiency under the same conditions with different catalyst supports only decreases by approximately 3% within 30 minutes at a reaction rate of 0.0950 min-1, with an optimal mass ratio of 70:30 for S-TiO2 and diatomite. This composite material holds promise for addressing the application of photocatalytic materials in practical environmental treatment, including NO removal and the treatment of other environmental pollutants, as diatomite is a naturally available and environmentally friendly material.

Efficient phosphorus removal from ultra-low concentration wastewater by flow-electrode capacitive deionization

During the 14th Five-Year period, the stringent phosphorus emission standard puts forward higher requirements for the phosphorus removal. In this study, lotus leaf-based biochars were prepared by hydrothermal carbonization method and used as low-cost FCDI electrode materials to remove ultra-low concentration phosphorus in wastewater at the first time. The governing factors and optimal adsorption conditions were systematically investigated as 1.2 V applied voltage, 24 s HRT, 10 wt% content of biochars. The maximum removal efficiency reached 98.55 % under 20 mg/L initial phosphorus concentration, which ensured that the phosphorus concentration of the effluent could meet discharge standard (0.3 mg/L) of WWTPs. Furthermore, the microscopic and spectroscopic characterization revealed that phorphorus removal mechanism included physical adsorption, electrosorption, ion exchange, precipitation and ligand exchange, which may take place simultaneously or supplementing each other. Using in situ potential measurement method, the potential gradient and energy consumption contribution of each FCDI component were described. The results showed that total specific energy consumption was very low and the flow electrodes modules dominated (more than 50 %) in all FCDI components. The findings opened up a promising way for managing biowastes and confimed the application of engineering biochar in environmental pollution treatment field.

Surface Nanodroplet‐Confined Engineering of Gold (I) ‐Thiolate Nanostructures

AbstractGold(I)‐thiolate complexes have served as primary building blocks for diverse Au nanostructure synthesis strategies. A delicate approach to characterize and control Au(I)‐thiolate motif formation and assembly on the surface is needed as it can potentially solve challenges associated with utilizing gold nanomaterials in many applications. Here, the controllable generation of flower‐shaped surface gold nanostructures (FSGNs) is demonstrated by manipulating the formation‐assembly process of Au(I)‐dodecanethiolate motifs within nanoscale surface droplets. The morphology and structure of the resulting Au nanostructures are governed by internal convection flows and interfacial energy, modulated by the nanodroplet composition and substrate wettability. The obtained FSGNs are proven to act as versatile scaffolds for the selective generation of Au spiky nanostars. These FSGNs can also be utilized to functionalize nanodroplet‐based reactors, boosting the fluorescent intensity of Nile red (NR) fluorophores and decomposing NR via catalytic reaction. Remarkably, with FSGN functionalized droplets smaller than a radius of 500 nm, the decomposition rate of NR can reach ≈0.01 s−1. These results highlight a miniaturized, controllable, and automated method for the in situ production of 3D gold nanostructures on substrates, offering prospects for fast surface nanostructure fabrication and efficient environmental pollutant treatment.

Two synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms promoting fluoroquinolone resistance of Escherichia coli in the environment

Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is one of the core mechanisms that respond to antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli (E. coli), which is a major issue in environmental pollution. A specific type of SNPs, synonymous SNPs, have been generally considered as the “silent” SNPs since they do not change the encoded amino acid. However, the impact of synonymous SNPs on mRNA splicing, nucleo-cytoplasmic export, stability, and translation was gradually discovered in the last decades. Figuring out the mechanism of synonymous SNPs in regulating antibiotic resistance is critical to improve antimicrobial therapy strategies in clinics and biological treatment strategies of antibiotic-resistant E. coli-polluted materials. With our newly designed antibiotic resistant SNPs prediction algorithm, Multilocus Sequence Type based Identification for Phenotype-single nucleotide polymorphism Analysis (MIPHA), and in vivo validation, we identified 2 important synonymous SNPs 522 G>A and 972 C>T, located at hisD gene, which was previously predicted as a fluoroquinolone resistance-related gene without a detailed mechanism in the E. coli samples with environmental backgrounds. We first discovered that hisD causes gyrA mutation via the upregulation of sbmC and its downstream gene umuD. Moreover, those 2 synonymous SNPs of hisD cause its own translational slowdown and further reduce the expression levels of sbmC and its downstream gene umuD, making the fluoroquinolone resistance determining region of gyrA remains unmutated, ultimately causing the bacteria to lose their ability to resist drugs. This study provided valuable insight into the role of synonymous SNPs in mediating antibiotic resistance of bacteria and a new perspective for the treatment of environmental pollution caused by drug-resistant bacteria.

Monitoring of Medical Wastewater by Sensitive, Convenient, and Low-Cost Determination of Small Extracellular Vesicles Using a Glycosyl-Imprinted Sensor.

The monitoring of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) in medical waste is of great significance for the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases and the treatment of environmental pollutants in medical waste. Highly sensitive and selective detection methods are urgently needed due to the low content of sEVs in waste samples and the complex sample composition. Herein, a glycosyl-imprinted electrochemical sensor was constructed and a novel strategy for rapid, sensitive, and selective sEVs detection was proposed. The characteristic trisaccharide at the end of the glycosyl chain of the glycoprotein carried on the surface of the sEVs was used as the template molecule. The glycosyl-imprinted polymer films was then prepared by electropolymerization with o-phenylenediamine (o-PD) and 3-aminophenylboronic acid (m-APBA) as functional monomers. sEVs were captured by the imprinted cavities through the recognition and adsorption of glycosyl chains of glycoproteins on sEVs. The m-APBA molecule also acted as a signal probe and was then attached on the immobilized glycoprotein on the surface of sEVs by boric acid affinity. The electrochemical signal of m-APBA was amplificated due to the abundant glycoproteins on the surface of sEVs. The detection range of the sensor was 2.1 × 104 to 8.7 × 107 particles/mL, and the limit of detection was 1.7 × 104 particles/mL. The sensor was then applied to the determination of sEVs in medical wastewater and urine, which showed good selectivity, low detection cost, and good sensitivity.

Study on financial cost evaluation of urban water environment management and pollution prevention and control

Abstract Nowadays, water pollution has become a major factor restricting social development. To address this, the government has issued a series of policy documents to control water environmental pollution and achieved certain results. However, on the whole, the prevention and control of the pollution of water environments requires a large amount of capital investment, but the corresponding results and benefits are not significant. Hence, this paper takes Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Hefei as examples to study the financial cost-effectiveness of the governance of urban water environments from the two dimensions of time and space. It is concluded that the cost of water environmental treatment has a negative effect on the comprehensive benefit of environmental treatment in the region in the short term and a positive effect in the long term, which indicates that water environmental pollution treatment is work that needs to be adhered to for a long time, and long-term planning is also needed for cost input. On this basis, strategies to improve the cost efficiency of water pollution treatment are presented.

Preparation of catalyst of cobalt‐ and/or iron‐doped strontium zirconate and its performance in removal of m‐cresol using ozone as oxidant

AbstractBACKGROUNDWastewater containing m‐cresol has become a global water environmental problem because its degradation is difficult, and it is highly toxic to plants, animals, and humans. The heterogeneous catalytic ozonation process has been widely used in the treatment of environmental pollution, so it is very important to study efficient catalysts. Perovskite catalysts have been widely investigated and applied in catalytic ozonation processes. Among them, strontium zirconate is a promising perovskite catalyst owing to its high oxidation efficiency and environmental friendliness.RESULTSStrontium zirconate was successfully synthesized via the co‐precipitation method. To improve strontium zirconate catalytic performance, some methods such as changing the doping ratio of cobalt and iron, changing the amount of polyethylene glycol added, changing the calcination temperature, and changing the aging time were carried out during the synthesis process. Finally, the optimal conditions were determined. 0.4 g L−1 Sr2Co0.4Fe0.6ZrO6 prepared under the optimal conditions was used for catalytic ozonation of 100 ppm m‐cresol, which achieved the optimum degradation (0.136 min−1), m‐cresol conversion rate (92.2%) and total organic carbon removal rate (12.1%) within 20 min.CONCLUSIONThis work provides the best preparation conditions. The Sr2Co0.4Fe0.6ZrO6 catalyst, as prepared, is the optimal catalyst for catalytic ozonation of m‐cresol among the investigated Sr2CoxFe1−xZrO6 catalysts. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

A novel Z‐scheme heterojunction g‐C3N4/g‐C3N4/Pr6O11 for efficient visible‐light photocatalytic degradation of sulfonamide

Photocatalytic technology, as an environmentally friendly technology, has a great application promise in the treatment of environmental pollutants caused by residual pharmaceuticals emissions. The Z‐scheme heterojunction of g‐C3N4/g‐C3N4/Pr6O11 (Pr/CN) was successfully prepared by employing melamine, urea, and praseodymium nitrate as co‐precursors. The structure composition and photoelectrochemical properties were characterized by XRD, XPS, EDS, SEM, FETEM, UV–Vis, EIS, photocurrent, and PL analyses. The optimized 5wt%Pr/CN heterojunction degrade 98% of SCP, 85% of SMM, and 87% of SDM, respectively. Taking SCP as an example, the degradation rate is 8 and 11.2 times higher than that of the g‐C3N4/g‐C3N4 homojunction and g‐C3N4, respectively. The remarkable photocatalytic efficiency of Pr/CN heterojunction could be ascribed to enhanced visible light absorption and enhanced migration and separation of photogenerated charge carriers. Furthermore, the degradation products and degradation pathways of SCP and SMM were established by HPLC‐MS/MS analysis. In addition, the toxicity of the intermediate was evaluated with quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) prediction and the biocompatibility of sulfonamide‐degrading solution over the Pr/CN photocatalyst was verified by the growth of wheat seeds.

Identifying the two-electron oxygen reduction mechanism on BC3 site in Cl−-containing electrolytes

The electrochemical synthesis of H2O2 has great potential for applications in the treatment of environmental pollution and energy, but the toxic effect of Cl− on the active sites of catalysts has severely limited the application of this technology in these fields. Developing efficient non-metal-doped catalysts represents an effective strategy to address this issue. Although B-doped carbon materials have demonstrated excellent ORR activity, the understanding of the ORR mechanism on B surface sites remains highly controversial, particularly in seawater electrolytes. The influence of Cl− adsorption behavior on the catalytic reaction center mechanism is still unknown. In this paper, catalysts containing the BC3 structure were successfully prepared with an H2O2 yield of 3.55 mol/ (gcat h) in simulated seawater. The DFT results demonstrated that BC3 functions as a 2e− ORR active site, and the presence of Cl− does not poison it. Instead, it promotes the hydrogenation process of *OOH on its surface, further enhancing its ORR performance. The results provide clarity on how the Cl− of the catalytic environment affects the ORR performance and pathway selectivity of non-metallic B-sites. Additionally, the results offer valuable insights for designing electrocatalysts in complex environments.

Z-Type Heterojunction MnO2@g-C3N4 Photocatalyst-Activated Peroxymonosulfate for the Removal of Tetracycline Hydrochloride in Water.

A Z-type heterojunction MnO2@g-C3N4 photocatalyst with excellent performance was synthesized by an easy high-temperature thermal polymerization approach and combined with peroxymonosulfate (PMS) oxidation technology for highly efficient degrading of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC). Analysis of the morphological structural and photoelectric properties of the catalysts was achieved through different characterization approaches, showing that the addition of MnO2 heightened visible light absorption by g-C3N4. The Mn1-CN1/PMS system showed the best degradation of TC wastewater, with a TC degradation efficiency of 96.97% following 180 min of treatment. This was an approximate 38.65% increase over the g-C3N4/PMS system. Additionally, the Mn1-CN1 catalyst exhibited excellent stability and reusability. The active species trapping experiment indicated •OH and SO4•- remained the primary active species to degrade TC in the combined system. TC degradation pathways and intermediate products were determined. The Three-Dimensional Excitation-Emission Matrix (3DEEM) was employed for analyzing changes in the molecular structure in TC photocatalytic degradation. The biological toxicity of TC and its degradation intermediates were investigated via the Toxicity Estimation Software Test (T.E.S.T.). The research offers fresh thinking for water environment pollution treatment.

One bismuth three birds: an overview of bismuth-based photocatalysts for energy conversion, environmental treatment and biomedical applications

A wide variety of bismuth-based photocatalysts are considered to be excellent candidates for energy conversion, environmental pollutant treatment and biomedical engineering applications, and have attracted extensive attention owing to their...

Mixed-valence Cu-based heterostructures for efficient electrochemical nitrate reduction to ammonia.

The electrocatalytic NO3- reduction reaction (NO3RR) to NH3 provides a promising pathway for ambient NH3 synthesis and environmental pollution treatment. Cu and its oxides are recognized as effective NO3RR electrocatalysts due to their favorable d-orbital energy levels and superior kinetics. In this work, mixed-valence Cu-based catalysts with tunable valence states were constructed via an inorganic salt-induced MOF-derived strategy. Notably, optimized Cu-CuxO/C-0.3 featured a Cu/Cu2O heterostructure and demonstrated the lowest Cu valence state. The resulting Cu/Cu2O heterointerface facilitated electron transfer and increased the density of electrochemically active sites, leading to an enhanced faradaic efficiency of 81.4% and a remarkable yield rate of 13.38 mg h-1 cm-2 (ca. 2.39 mol h-1 gcat.-1) at -0.8 V vs. RHE. This work presents insights for designing multi-phase heterostructured NO3RR catalysts and emphasizes their potential significance in efficient ammonia production.

Bio-inspired synthesis of N-doped TiO2/C nanocrystals using jellyfish mucus with high visible-light photocatalytic efficiency.

Non-metal doping of titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been widely investigated, because it can facilely improve the optical response of TiO2 under visible light excitation in environmental pollution treatments. In the ongoing efforts, however, little consideration has been given to the use of harmful marine organisms as dopants. Here, we employed the natural mucus proteins of the large harmful jellyfish Aurelia coerulea and Nemopilema nomurai, which have frequently bloomed in East Asian marginal seas in recent decades, to synthesize mesoporous nitrogen-doped TiO2 nanocrystals modified with carbon (N-TiO2/C) by a simple hydrothermal method. These nanocrystals were composed of predominantly anatase phase and a small amount of brookite phase TiO2. Their mesoporous structures changed with the variation of the volume ratio of jellyfish mucus added to tetrabutyl titanate (TBT). At the same ratio, larger surface area and pore volume but smaller pore size were observed in N-TiO2/C nanocrystals from N. nomurai rather than A. coerulea. Nitrogen was determinately doped into the lattice of the prepared nanocrystals and the carbon species were modified on their surfaces, which narrowed the band gap, facilitated the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and favored the absorption of visible light, thus improving their visible light photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation first increased and then decreased with the gradual increase of the volume ratio of jellyfish mucus proteins to TBT. The maximum reached 97.52% in 20 min from N-TiO2/C nanocrystals synthesized using N. nomurai mucus at the volume ratio of 4 : 1, which showed a remarkably strong visible light absorption, lower band gap energy and smaller electron transfer resistance. These N-TiO2/C nanocrystals also had a relatively stable crystal structure in multiple degradation reactions. The main active species including superoxide radicals (˙O2 -), photogenerated holes (h+) and hydroxyl radicals (˙OH) were found to play a major role in the degradation process of RhB. This study highlights the potential high-value reapplication of harmful jellyfish mucus as a natural organic matrix in fabricating advanced materials with optimized functional properties.

Multi-metallic MOF based composites for environmental applications: synergizing metal centers and interactions.

The escalating threat of environmental issues to both nature and humanity over the past two decades underscores the urgency of addressing environmental pollutants. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as highly promising materials for tackling these challenges. Since their rise in popularity, extensive research has been conducted on MOFs, spanning from design and synthesis to a wide array of applications, such as environmental remediation, gas storage and separation, catalysis, sensors, biomedical and drug delivery systems, energy storage and conversion, and optoelectronic devices, etc. MOFs possess a multitude of advantageous properties such as large specific surface area, tunable porosity, diverse pore structures, multi-channel design, and molecular sieve capabilities, etc., making them particularly attractive for environmental applications. MOF-based composites inherit the excellent properties of MOFs and also exhibit unique physicochemical properties and structures. The tailoring of central coordinated metal ions in MOFs is critical for their adaptability in environmental applications. Although many reviews on monometallic, bimetallic, and polymetallic MOFs have been published, few reviews focusing on MOF-based composites with monometallic, bimetallic, and multi-metallic centers in the context of environmental pollutant treatment have been reported. This review addresses this gap by providing an in-depth overview of the recent progress in MOF-based composites, emphasizing their applications in hazardous gas sensing, electromagnetic wave absorption (EMWA), and pollutant degradation in both aqueous and atmospheric environments and highlighting the importance of the number and type of metal centers present. Additionally, the various categories of MOFs are summarized. MOF-based composites demonstrate significant promise in addressing environmental challenges, and this review provides a clear and valuable perspective on their potential in environmental applications.

Analysis of the Impact of Coal Mineacid Water on River Water Quality, Biota, and Human Health Around Mining

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) or Acidic Acidic Drainage (AAT) is a type of water runoff that happens when certain sulfide minerals in rocks come in contact with water and oxygen, triggering an oxidation process that results in water with acidic properties. To understand more about this phenomenon, a literature review was conducted using relevant keywords on online information sources. The indicators used to measure the level of acidity in mine water include pH, metal concentration, Total Suspended Solid (TSS) or turbidity level, electrical conductivity, sulfate, and sulfuric acid content. High electrical conductivity in mine water usually indicates the presence of metals such as iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn). High levels of manganese (Mn) in water can cause health problems for humans. Moreover, an increase in the concentration of Fe can cause an increase in turbidity or TSS because iron metal can dissolve in air and form solid particles that can cause turbidity. To reduce acidity and environmental pollution, passive or active treatment techniques can be used to neutralize AMD.

Iron-encapsulated carbon nanotubes catalyze degradation of organic pollutants enabled by magnetic induction heating

Organic pollutants have become an urgent problem for human health and the ecological system. The development of a multifunctional and efficient catalyst is of great significance for environmental governance. However, the catalytic conversion process of organic pollutants requires a large amount of energy, and traditional energy supply may further exacerbate environmental pollution. Herein, we propose an integrated magnetic material system that can serve as a magnetic heating medium to provide energy and as catalyst to promote the catalytic reaction. Iron-encapsulated carbon nanotubes activate peroxomonosulfate to generate active free radicals, achieving nearly complete degradation of the organic pollutant Orange II. The reaction exhibits excellent stability and repeatability, which may be attributed to the heating method applied to the magnetic sites, allowing the iron-encapsulated carbon nanotubes to maintain a stable structure. Further loading with Ag allows the catalyst to achieve near 100 % conversion of formaldehyde in air. This study aims to provide an effective and green strategy for environmental pollution treatment by integrating magnetic induction heating and catalytic conversion technology.

Bridging Component Strategy in Phosphomolybdate-Based Sensors for Electrochemical Determination of Trace Cr(VI).

Rapid and sensitive electrochemical determination of trace carcinogenic Cr(VI) pollutants remains an urgent and important task, which requires the development of active sensing materials. Herein, four cases of reduced phosphomolybdates with formulas of the (H2bib)3[Zn(H2PO4)]2{Mn[P4Mo6O31H7]2}·6H2O (1), (H2bib)2[Na(H2O)]2[Mn(H2O)]2{Mn[P4Mo6O31H6]2}·5H2O (2), (H2bib)3[Mo2(μ2-O)2(H2O)4]2{Ni[P4Mo6O31H2]2}·4H2O (3), and (H2bib)2{Ni[P4Mo6O31H9]2}·9H2O (4) (bib = 4,4'-bis(1-imidazolyl)-biphenyl) were hydrothermally synthesized under the guidance of a bridging component strategy, which function as effective electrochemical sensors to detect trace Cr(VI). The difference of hybrids 1-4 is in the inorganic moiety, in which the reduced phosphomolybdates {M[P4MoV6O31]2} (M{P4Mo6}2) exhibited different arrangements bridged by different cationic components ({Zn(H2PO4)} subunit for 1, [Mn2(H2O)2]4+ dimer for 2, and [MoV2(μ2-O)2(H2O)4]6+ for 3). As a result, hybrids 1 and 3 display noticeable Cr(VI) detection activity with low detection limits of 14.3 nM (1.48 ppb) for 1 and 6.61 nM (0.69 ppb) for 3 and high sensitivities of 97.3 and 95.3 μA·mM-1, respectively, which are much beyond the World Health Organization's detection threshold (0.05 ppm) and superior to those of the contrast samples (inorganic Mn{P4Mo6}2 salt and hybrid 4), even the most reported noble-metal catalysts. This work supplies a prospective pathway to build effective electrochemical sensors based on phosphomolybdates for environmental pollutant treatment.

Novel magnetic renewable Ni0.85Se/g-C3N4 material for highly efficient removal of elemental mercury from coal-fired flue gas

The emission of heavy metal elements (especially the most toxic Hg) from coal-fired power plants has always been a hot issue in the environmental field. Nickel selenide was first applied to flue gas mercury removal in this work, and a new adsorbent of Nickel selenide (Ni0.85Se) loaded with graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was developed to effectively remove elemental mercury. When the loading mass of g-C3N4 is 20%, NS/20CN has 100% mercury removal efficiency. Meanwhile, it will not be poisoned by NO and SO2 in the flue gas. At the same time, NS/20CN also has strong magnetism that is not permanently magnetized, and can be separated from the downstream magnetic field of WESP for heat treatment to recover ultra-low concentrations of Hg0 and reused. Therefore, this work demonstrates that NS/20CN adsorbent has excellent performance and economy in efficiently removing elemental mercury and has also broadened the application of Nickel selenide in the environmental field, providing an efficient guidance method for the treatment of other environmental pollutants.

2D ZIF-L arrays supported on zinc foam to activate peroxymonosulfate for degrading sulfamethoxazole through both radical and non-radical pathways

The development of easy recovery and high efficiency heterogeneous catalysts for activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) is of great significance in the treatment of environmental pollutants. In this study, we successfully immobilized 2D ZIF-L arrays on a zinc foam (ZF) through a room temperature deposition method, creating a self-supporting ZIF-L/ZF catalyst. The ZIF-L/ZF exhibited high catalytic efficiency and durable recyclability for activating PMS to degrade sulfamethoxazole (SMX). Within 10 min, a 97 % degradation efficiency of SMX was achieved, which could be attributed to the unique integrated architecture and Co2+/Co3+ redox cycle of the catalyst. Furthermore, the effects of various environmental factors on catalytic activity were evaluated. By identifying the reactive species, both radical and non-radical oxidation process occurred during PMS activation. Additionally, the ZIF-L/ZF could be easy reused over 10 cycles, demonstrating a practical application value. We also proposed a possible degradation pathway for SMX based on Fukui index calculations and HPLC-MS. Our findings provide valuable insights into the construction of self-supporting catalyst for pollutant removal.