Nanoconfined GO/MXene membranes decorated with sea urchin-like cobalt catalyst toward peroxymonosulfate activation to generate singlet oxygen with high selectivity for enhanced Fenton-like reactions
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The integration of sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) with membrane filtration offers a promising strategy for superior organic pollutant removal while eliminating the need for secondary catalyst recovery. In this study, a ‘sea urchin-like’ cobalt‑carbon composite (CoCS) was embedded into a two-dimensional catalytic membrane (CoCS-M) to enable ultrafast peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation for efficient water purification. The results from an optimized CoCS-M/PMS system indicated a 96.8 % removal of carbamazepine (CBZ, 20 mg/L) with an exceptionally high first-order rate constant (k = 1903.8 min−1), outperforming conventional catalytic systems. Mechanistic studies revealed that the carbon sphere carrier in CoCS facilitated selective PMS activation, promoting the generation of singlet oxygen (1O2) as the dominant reactive species (61.0 %). The superior environmental adaptability and oxidative selectivity of 1O2 ensured a robust performance across a wide pH range (4–8) and in complex water matrices. Furthermore, the dual anchoring effect — whereby cobalt ions were stabilized by both the carbon carrier and the membrane matrix — significantly suppressed metal leaching (<1 ppm). The CoCS-M system demonstrated a high removal efficiency (>85 %) of simulated pollutants (antibiotics, dyes) and real water (pharmaceutical wastewater, lake, river) contaminants, demonstrating its potential for scalable water treatment. The work provides a new insight into developing high-performance catalytic membranes through catalyst carrier-structure tuning for PMS activation.
Date Issued
2025-10-01
Date Acceptance
2025-08-05
Citation
Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025, 521
ISSN
1385-8947
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Start Page
166922
End Page
166922
Journal / Book Title
Chemical Engineering Journal
Volume
521
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2025 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is the author’s accepted manuscript made available under a CC-BY licence in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy)
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
166922
Date Publish Online
2025-08-08