Waste-battery-derived iron-copper bimetallic sulfides for enhanced peroxymonosulfate-based Fenton-like reactions

Developing efficient solid waste-based catalysts for Fenton-like reactions is of great significance in wastewater treatment. Herein, a series of iron-copper bimetallic sulfides with multi-prismatic microstructures were facilely synthesized using wasted batteries as the metal precursors. With carbamazepine (CBZ) as the model pollutant and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) as the oxidant, the optimized Fe/Cu@S-1:1 catalyst can degrade CBZ to below the limit of quantification within 30 min and exhibit the wide pH range tolerance. The excellent catalytic activity is ascribed to the synergistic interaction between Fe and Cu sites, the abundance of surface Cu(I) and Fe(II) active sites, and the presence of highly reductive sulfur species that help maintain the metals with low-valent states during PMS activation. According to the quenching experiments, the main reactive oxidation species (ROSs) in Fe/Cu@S-1:1/PMS system are determined to be • OH, O 2 •− , and 1 O 2 . This study provides a novel strategy for designing high performance iron-copper bimetallic sulfide catalysts for Fenton-like reactions, and giving new insights into the resource utilization of wasted batteries for advanced wastewater treatment.