Persulfate Activation on Crystallographic Manganese Oxides: Mechanism of Singlet Oxygen Evolution for Nonradical Selective Degradation of Aqueous Contaminants

• Published in: Environmental science & technology Vol. 53; no. 1; pp. 307 - 315
• Main Authors: Zhu, Shishu, Li, Xiaojie, Kang, Jian, Duan, Xiaoguang, Wang, Shaobin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 02.01.2019
• Subjects: Activation; Biodegradation; Catalysis; Catalysts; Chemical evolution; Chemical pollution; Contaminants; Crystal structure; Crystallography; Degradation; Electron paramagnetic resonance; electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy; Environmental science; free radical scavengers; free radicals; Ion recombination; ions; Manganese; Manganese dioxide; Manganese oxides; Minerals; Nanorods; Organic chemistry; Organic contaminants; Oxidation; Oxides; Oxygen; oxygen production; phenol; Phenols; Pollutant removal; Reactive oxygen species; Recombination; remediation; Singlet oxygen; solvents; Superoxide; Wastewater; Wastewater pollution; Wastewater treatment
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b04669

Minerals and transitional metal oxides of earth-abundant elements are desirable catalysts for in situ chemical oxidation in environmental remediation. However, catalytic activation of peroxydisulfate (PDS) by manganese oxides was barely investigated. In this study, one-dimension manganese dioxides (α- and β-MnO2) were discovered as effective PDS activators among the diverse manganese oxides for selective degradation of organic contaminants. Compared with other chemical states and crystallographic structures of manganese oxide, β-MnO2 nanorods exhibited the highest phenol degradation rate (0.044 min–1, 180 min) by activating PDS. A comprehensive study was conducted utilizing electron paramagnetic resonance, chemical probes, radical scavengers, and different solvents to identity the reactive oxygen species (ROS). Singlet oxygen (1O2) was unveiled to be the primary ROS, which was generated by direct oxidation or recombination of superoxide ions and radicals from a metastable manganese intermediate at neutral pH. The study dedicates to the first mechanistic study into PDS activation over manganese oxides and provides a novel catalytic system for selective removal of organic contaminants in wastewater.