Research progress on degradation of organic pollutants by single atom activated persulfate

Abstract

With the rapid development of industry, large amount of refractory organic pollutants in domestic and industrial wastewater are discharged into water bodies, posing a serious threat to human health and the environment. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) based on persulfates have shown outstanding performance in treating refractory organic wastewater, and the use of single-atom catalysts (SACs) can maximize the utilization of metal atoms and reduce the leaching of metal ions, which has a promising application prospect in the activation of persulfates for the degradation of organic pollutants. The preparation methods of single-atom catalysts were summarized, and the advantages and disadvantages of various methods were discussed. The application of single-atom catalysts with metals such as Fe, Co, Mn and Cu in the activation of persulfates for the degradation of organic pollutants was discussed. The mechanisms of single-atom catalysts in activating persulfates and the degradation mechanisms of the persulfate system catalyzed by single-atom catalysts towards organic pollutants were summarized. Finally, the future development of single-atom catalysts in activating persulfates for the degradation of organic pollutants was discussed.

Keywords

• single-atom catalysts
• persulfate
• organic pollutants
• metal-based catalysts