Green Zn-based catalyst with synergistic adsorption and catalysis for efficient organic pollutant removal

To overcome the difficulty of combining high specific surface area with high metal loading in zinc-based catalysts, we proposed a strategy using adenine for zinc species anchoring and zinc nitrate for in situ pore generation. The environmentally friendly zinc-based catalyst (Zn-NC-800) was synthesized via a solvent-free grinding-assisted pyrolysis, achieving an unprecedented combination of ultrahigh BET surface area (815.28 m²/g) and high Zn loading (4.43 wt%). Zn-NC-800 exhibited excellent bisphenol A (BPA) removal through adsorption-catalysis synergistic enhancement, significantly outperforming other metal-based catalysts (M-NC-800, M= Fe, Mn, Ni). Specifically, Zn-NC-800 achieved an exceptional maximum adsorption capacity of 482.2 mg g⁻¹ for BPA, and the removal rate in Zn-NC-800/PMS system reached almost 100% within 3 min, with the removal rate constant (k obs ) reaching as high as 1.4939 min⁻¹ . Furthermore, the adsorption k obs and removal k obs values showed a strong positive correlation (R² = 0.78), demonstrating the promotion of the adsorption capability of Zn-NC-800 to the pollutants removal within the Zn-NC-800/PMS system. Quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance detection confirmed singlet oxygen (¹O₂) as the dominant reactive oxygen species during peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. This study offers guidance on designing environmentally friendly zinc-based catalysts featuring high specific surface area and high metal loading for efficient organic wastewater treatment. Download: Download high-res image (153KB) Download: Download full-size image