Applying the carbon vacancy-enhanced catalyst as the surface reactor for peroxymonosulfate activation and efficient Acetaminophen degradation: Performance and mechanism

Introducing carbon vacancies (V c ) is an efficient strategy that can improve the catalytic activity of carbon materials. However, the understanding in the efficacy and mechanism of V c in peroxymonosulfate (PMS) adsorption and activation to degrade pollutants was inexplicit. Herein, V c was introduced into the catalyst (PB-Mn-X) via etching and heat treatment for Prussian blue, and four PB-Mn-Xs with different V c contents were used to investigate the performance and mechanism. As a result, PB-Mn-X had excellent catalytic performance and good cycling stability, removing 93.7% Acetaminophen (APAP) within 10 min and being almost independent of pH value. Quenching results and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technology confirmed that PB-Mn-X/PMS system was a surface oxidation mechanism with four reactive oxygen species (SO 4 • – , •OH, O 2 • – , and 1 O 2 ). The presence of V c enhanced the PMS adsorption, thus building an electron-deficient surface on material. APAP with electron-rich groups was easy adsorbed on such a surface, which boosted the efficiently and rapidly APAP degradation. In addition, the actual application performance of PB-Mn-X/PMS system was also assessed. This work provides favorable insights to advance the research on the catalytic efficiency and mechanism of V c on activated PMS.