For several decades, the iron-based Fenton-like catalysis has been believed to be mediated by hydroxyl radicals or high-valent iron-oxo species, while only sporadic evidence supported the generation of singlet oxygen (1O2) in the Haber–Weiss cycle. Herein, we report an unprecedented singlet oxygen mediated Fenton-like process catalyzed by ∼2-nm Fe2O3nanoparticles distributed inside multiwalled carbon nanotubes with inner diameter of ∼7 nm. Unlike the traditional Fenton-like processes, this delicately designed system was shown to selectively oxidize the organic dyes that could be adsorbed with oxidation rates linearly proportional to the adsorption affinity. It also exhibited remarkably higher degradation activity (22.5 times faster) toward a model pollutant methylene blue than its nonconfined analog. Strikingly, the unforeseen stability at pH value up to 9.0 greatly expands the use of Fenton-like catalysts in alkaline conditions. This work represents a fundamental breakthrough toward the design and understanding of the Fenton-like system under nanoconfinement, might cause implications in other fields, especially in biological systems.

The Fenton reaction is limited by a narrow acidic pH range, the slow reduction of Fe­(III), and susceptibility of the nonselective hydroxyl radical (HO•) to scavenging by water constituents. Here, we employed the biodegradable chelating agent picolinic acid (PICA) to address these concerns. Compared to the classical Fenton reaction at pH 3.0, PICA greatly accelerated the degradation of atrazine, sulfamethazine, and various substituted phenols at pH 5.0 in a reaction with autocatalytic characteristics. Although HO• served as the principal oxidant, a high-spin, end-on hydroperoxo intermediate, tentatively identified as PICA–FeIII–OOH, also exhibited reactivity toward several test compounds. Chloride release from the oxidation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol and the positive slope of the Hammett correlation for a series of halogenated phenols were consistent with PICA–FeIII–OOH reacting as a nucleophilic oxidant. Compared to HO•, PICA–FeIII–OOH is less sensitive to potential scavengers in environmental water samples. Kinetic analysis reveals that PICA facilitates Fe­(III)/Fe­(II) transformation by accelerating Fe­(III) reduction by H2O2. Autocatalysis is ascribed to the buildup of Fe­(II) from the reduction of Fe­(III) by H2O2 as well as PICA oxidation products. PICA assistance in the Fenton reaction may be beneficial to wastewater treatment because it favors iron cycling, extends the pH range, and balances oxidation universality with selectivity.