Heteroatoms-doped biochar derived from deciduous resource as persulfate catalysts for efficient degradation of phenol

Phenol , as the representative recalcitrant aromatic organic compounds (AOCs) in wastewater, has been listed as the priority pollutant due to its toxicity to organisms and ecosystem. Therefore, the exploration of efficient and practical technology for phenol elimination from wastewater has become an important research topic. Peroxymonosulfate-based advanced oxidation processes (PMS-based AOPs) have been developed to be an efficient phenol-degrading strategy. Thereinto, the development of high-performance and cost-effective catalyst is the crux of degrading pollutants in PMS-based AOPs. In this study, the ubiquitous ginkgo deciduous resource is expected to convert into low-cost heteroatoms self-doped biochar to activate PMS for the removal of phenol. The removal rate of phenol (10 mg/L) achieved 90% within 60 min in pH of 6 by using 1.0 mmol/L of PMS and 0.5 g/L of catalyst. The phenol degradation in the catalytic process was accomplished via •OH, SO 4 • − , 1 O 2 , and electron-transfer. On the basis of the correlation analysis, oxygen functional groups and sulfur functional groups were considered as the active sites that may be the most relevant to removal efficiency. This study proposed a facile method for converting deciduous waste resource into catalyst for triggering efficient catalytic oxidation process to degrade organic pollutants .