In Situ Regeneration of Phenol-Saturated Activated Carbon Fiber by an Electro-peroxymonosulfate Process

Abstract

Regeneration is required to restore the adsorption performance of activated carbon used as an adsorbent in water purification. Conventional thermal and electrochemical regenerations have high energy consumption and poor mineralization of pollutants, respectively. In this study, phenol-saturated activated carbon fiber was regenerated in situ using an electro-peroxymonosulfate (E-PMS) process, which mineralized the desorbed contaminants with relatively low energy consumption. The initial adsorbed phenol (81.90%) was mineralized, and only 4.07% of the initial concentration remained in the solution after 6 h of E-PMS regeneration. The phenol degradation was dominated by hydroxyl radical oxidation. Adding the PMS in three doses at 2 h intervals improves the regeneration performance from 75% to more than 82%. Regeneration retained 60% of its initial effectiveness even in the 10th cycle with 4.40% of the initial concentration of phenol remaining in the solution. These results confirm the E-PMS regeneration process as effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly for regenerating activated carbon.

Single-Atom Fe Catalyst Outperforms Its Homogeneous Counterpart for Activating Peroxymonosulfate to Achieve Effective Degradation of Organic Contaminants

“…Selective degradation of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) from water is important because these pollutants, although low in concentration, pose a significant threat to the ecological environment and humanity. − Radical-based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are the most widely employed approaches to degrade EOCs in an aqueous phase. − However, the radicals, such as HO · , SO 4 ·– , and Cl ·– , suffer from the disadvantages of a low steady-state concentration (10 –12 –10 –15 M), ultrashort lifetime (10 –6 –10 –9 s), and consumption by the background matrix. − Thus, the AOPs with these radicals as major reactive oxidants perform generally not very well in the selective degradation of EOCs in water. Compared with these radical species, reactive iron species (RFeS), such as Fe IV O and Fe V O, are less reactive but more selective oxidants. ,− Moreover, their steady-state concentration (>9.76 × 10 –9 M) and lifetime (∼10 –1 s at pH 3.0) are larger than those of radicals. , Consequently, the oxidation process with RFeS as a major oxidant is expected to be a good choice for the selective degradation of EOCs.…”

Hydraulic-driven piezoelectric ozonation process for nitrobenzene degradation: synergy, energy consumption, impact factors, mechanism, and application potential

“…Here, to investigate and identify the reactive species associated with the PE-O 3 process, different inhibition experiments were conducted using various free radical scavengers (ammonium oxalate (AO) for h + , 40 AgNO 3 for e − , 41 tert -butanol (TBA) for ˙OH, 42 catalase (CAT) for H 2 O 2 , 17 and superoxide dismutase (SOD) for ˙O 2 − (ref. 17)).…”

How to Build a Microplastics‐Free Environment: Strategies for Microplastics Degradation and Plastics Recycling

“…[102] During this process, the cathode material plays the key role in determining the degradation efficiency of the system: Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) is generated in situ on the cathodes by reducing O 2 via a two-electron oxygen reduction reaction and is subsequently converted into • OH. [103][104][105][106][107] Gao et al designed a heterogeneous TiO 2 /C cathode in a EF-like system for degrading PVC-based MPs in a Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte (0.05 m, pH 3.0), where a graphite electrode and Ag/AgCl electrode were used as the counter electrode and reference electrode, respectively. [108] At the end of the reaction, the original smooth surface of PVC-MPs was destroyed by showing a number of large holes according to SEM characterization.…”