Selective removal of phenolic contaminants for carbon recycling by activated persulfate based on oxidative polymerization mechanism

A novel approach for selective removal of phenolic contaminants and polyphenols recycling based on oxidative polymerization is explored, which is significantly different from conventional degradation processes. Plenty of bridging OH − and lattice oxygen are bound on CuO@CuCe y O 1+2y+x/2 -IE due to strong coordination between Ce and O, which induced formation of Cu(III) with high redox potential. Cu(III) could not only form outer-sphere complexation with peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for enhancement of O 2 •– production involving series of chain reactions, but also promote O 2 •– conversion to singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ). Owing to electrophilicity, 1 O 2 preferentially attacked the phenolic hydroxyl group with the production of phenoxeniums ions, and phenoxide ions could immediately couple with negatively charged hydroxyl groups of other bisphenol A (BPA) molecular so as to make polymer chains get a sustained growth over CuO@CuCe y O 1+2y+x/2 -IE. Thus, CuO@CuCe y O 1+2y+x/2 -IE can selectively remove phenolic contaminants from water with low oxidant consumption, and simultaneously recycle more than 80 % of polyphenols. In summary, the present work demonstrated the predominant role and mechanism of 1 O 2 in triggering the oxidative polymerization of BPA, which contributed to construction of cost-efficient catalytic system for phenolic contaminants conversion into polyphenols.