Efficient peroxymonosulfate activation and bisphenol A degradation derived from mineral-carbon materials: key role of double mineral-templates

Abstract This study aimed to explore the catalytic performance of mineral-carbon materials towards peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation and investigate the synergistic effect of different types of minerals on the structure of the formed carbon materials. Tetracycline (TC) was used as carbon source, and montmorillonite (Mt), goethite (FeOOH), and goethite pillared montmorillonite (FeOOH/Mt) were used as different types of minerals. With the aid of double mineral-templates, the obtained mineral-carbon materials (FeOOH/Mt-TC-C) showed superior activation ability towards PMS for bisphenol A degradation with pseudo-first-order kinetic constant (k) of 0.1151 min-1. The active constituent is the formed carbon material (NPC-FeOOH/Mt). The synergistic effect of double mineral-templates played a key role on the structure of NPC-FeOOH/Mt, which exhibited an ultra-thin carbon nanosheet structure with hierarchical pores (average pore volume of 1.99 cm2 g-1), various defective sites (C = O and graphitic N) and good electric conductivity. Activation mechanism of NPC-FeOOH/Mt towards PMS includes free radical and non-radical pathways.