Photosensitive Dye as an Ideal Peroxymonosulfate Activator for Efficient Self-Degradation: A Novel Idea of Using Waste to Treat Waste

Abstract

Commonly used peroxydisulfate (PS) or peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation methods have been limited in their practical application due to certain drawbacks, such as high cost, high energy consumption and secondary pollution. In this study, a catalyst-free alizarin green (AG) self-activating PMS catalytic system was constructed based on photosensitization properties of dye, which ultimately achieved efficient degradation of the dye activator, also the target pollutant. Here, 52.5% of the 100 mL mixture of 10 mg/L AG decomposed within 60 min with 1 mM PMS under visible-light irradiation, thereby showing a strong pH adaptation. Mechanism of AG self-activating PMS was revealed that the photo-excited AG can effectively transfer photo-induced electrons to PMS for its activation, which generates reactive oxidizing species dominated by singlet oxygen (1O2), and supplemented by hydroxyl radical (•OH), superoxide radical (O2•−) and sulfate radical (SO4•−) to realize the efficient self-degradation of the dye pollutants. Moreover, such self-catalytic system operated well under natural sunlight irradiation, indicating the great application potential in the actual wastewater treatment. Herein, photosensitive dye acted as an ideal PMS activator realizing its efficient self-degradation, which provides a novel idea of “using waste to treat waste” for developing wastewater treatment process in a high-efficiency and low-consumption way.

Harnessing visible light: enhancing TiO2 photocatalysis with photosensitizers for sustainable and efficient environmental solutions

“…As a result, the use of thiazine dyes as photosensitizers Frontiers in Chemical Engineering frontiersin.org in wastewater treatment presents a future prospect that can lead to their reduced environmental footprint. Their low toxicity to healthy organisms and tissues could make them a more sustainable alternative compared to traditional water treatment chemicals (Zhang et al, 2023).…”

Insights into Enhanced Peroxydisulfate Activation with B and Fe Co-Doped Biochar from Bark for the Rapid Degradation of Guaiacol

“…This is because they can produce SO 4 − with a high redox potential (2.5-3.1 V) under a wide pH range (2.0-11.0) [7], which is favorable for practical applications. In the process of persulfate-based AOPs, radicals including •OH and SO 4 • can be produced by the activation of PDS or PMS assisted through some physical or chemical techniques (such as UV irradiation, heat, or catalysts) to break the O-O bond in persulfate [8]. Diverse catalysts, such as metal oxides [9], carbon materials [10], and natural minerals [11], have been exploited to catalyze persulfate.…”