Simultaneous nanocatalytic surface activation of pollutants and oxidants for highly efficient water decontamination

Ying-Jie Zhang, Gui-Xiang Huang, Lea R. Winter, Jie-Jie Chen, Lili Tian, Shu-Chuan Mei, Ze Zhang, Fei Chen, Zhi-Yan Guo, Rong Ji, Ye-Zi You, Wen-Wei Li, Xian-Wei Liu, Han-Qing Yu () and Menachem Elimelech ()
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Ying-Jie Zhang: University of Science and Technology of China
Gui-Xiang Huang: University of Science and Technology of China
Lea R. Winter: Yale University
Jie-Jie Chen: University of Science and Technology of China
Lili Tian: Nanjing University
Shu-Chuan Mei: University of Science and Technology of China
Ze Zhang: University of Science and Technology of China
Fei Chen: University of Science and Technology of China
Zhi-Yan Guo: University of Science and Technology of China
Rong Ji: Nanjing University
Ye-Zi You: University of Science and Technology of China
Wen-Wei Li: University of Science and Technology of China
Xian-Wei Liu: University of Science and Technology of China
Han-Qing Yu: University of Science and Technology of China
Menachem Elimelech: Yale University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Removal of organic micropollutants from water through advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) is hampered by the excessive input of energy and/or chemicals as well as the large amounts of residuals resulting from incomplete mineralization. Herein, we report a new water purification paradigm, the direct oxidative transfer process (DOTP), which enables complete, highly efficient decontamination at very low dosage of oxidants. DOTP differs fundamentally from AOPs and adsorption in its pollutant removal behavior and mechanisms. In DOTP, the nanocatalyst can interact with persulfate to activate the pollutants by lowering their reductive potential energy, which triggers a non-decomposing oxidative transfer of pollutants from the bulk solution to the nanocatalyst surface. By leveraging the activation, stabilization, and accumulation functions of the heterogeneous catalyst, the DOTP can occur spontaneously on the nanocatalyst surface to enable complete removal of pollutants. The process is found to occur for diverse pollutants, oxidants, and nanocatalysts, including various low-cost catalysts. Significantly, DOTP requires no external energy input, has low oxidant consumption, produces no residual byproducts, and performs robustly in real environmental matrices. These favorable features render DOTP an extremely promising nanotechnology platform for water purification.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30560-9

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