Complete and rapid degradation of glyphosate with Fe3Ce1Ox catalyst for peroxymonosulfate activation at room temperature

Glyphosate , a common broad-spectrum herbicide, is a serious environmental pollutant that causes a significant threat to humans. Hence, there is a pressing task to remove glyphosate from the environment. Here, we report an excellent Fe 3 Ce 1 O x catalyst synthesized via the one-step co-precipitation method for activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade glyphosate at 25 °C. As a result, glyphosate is completely degraded with a high degradation rate of 400 mg L −1 ·h −1 , and the TOC and TN removals are 85.6% and 80.8%, respectively. As proven by systematic characterizations, the Fe–Ce synergistic effect plays a significant role in promoting PMS activation . The main reactive oxygen species for glyphosate oxidation are surface-bound SO 4 − · and ·OH, produced by activating PMS by electron transfer between Fe 2+ /Fe 3+ and Ce 3+ /Ce 4+ of Fe 3 Ce 1 O x . In light of the products determined, the possible degradation process of glyphosate is also speculated: C–N and C–P bonds of glyphosate molecules are attacked to form aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) and orthophosphate (PO 4 3− ) by surface-bound SO 4 − · and ·OH that continuously mineralize and dephosphorylate AMPA to generate small molecules and inorganic ions, such as H 2 O and PO 4 3− . The results of this work suggest that Fe 3 Ce 1 O x /PMS could provide a potential candidate for efficiently removing organic compounds containing nitrogen or phosphorus from wastewater.