Insight into the catalytic performance of silver oxides towards peroxymonosulfate activation for pollutants degradation: Efficiency, mechanism and stability

Silver-based materials have emerged as excellent catalysts for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation in wastewater pollutants degradation. However, the mechanism of pure silver oxides towards PMS activation remains insufficient. In this work, Ag 2 O and AgO were selected as typical silver oxides to detect the catalytic performance. AgO/PMS possessed higher activity for p-nitrophenol and other pollutants degradation than Ag 2 O/PMS. The stability experiment and structure changes characterized from XRD , FTIR , and XPS , as well as quenching research, demonstrated that SO 4 •− was the main free radical produced from the oxidation of Ag(I) to Ag(II) and reduction of Ag(II) to Ag(I) by PMS; meanwhile, the high valence Ag(II) could directly oxidize the pollutants, which was also contributable to the degradation. Compared with Ag 2 O, AgO exhibited better efficiency and recyclability. These results provide key mechanistic insights into silver oxides towards PMS activation.