Singlet oxygen-mediated activation of persulfate by MOF-derived materials for acetaminophen degradation

The lifetime of free radicals limits the effectiveness of catalytic degradation reactions and the efficient utilization of transient free radicals remains a significant challenge in current research. In this paper, we have developed MIL-125 MOF derivatives, which can influence the morphology and structure of the materials by controlling the calcination time. The CT3 system significantly enhanced the activation performance of persulfate (PDS) and enabled the complete degradation of acetaminophen (ACT) within 20 min. The electron acceptor effect of the C C double bond accelerates the generation of singlet oxygen in the CT3 system, and rapidly acts on ACT, thereby improving the degradation performance of the CT3 system. Product analysis and soybean seed germination experiments confirmed that the toxicity of the degradation products was significantly reduced, and the degraded solution did not affect soybean growth. This study offers novel approaches and insights for utilizing MOF derivatives to activate PDS for the degradation of organic contaminants.