Nonradical-based
advanced oxidation processes for pollutant removal
have attracted much attention due to their inherent advantages. Herein
we report that magnesium oxides (MgO) in CuOMgO/Fe3O4 not only enhanced the catalytic properties but also switched
the free radical peroxymonosulfate (PMS)-activated process into the 1O2 based nonradical process. CuOMgO/Fe3O4 catalyst exhibited consistent performance in a wide
pH range from 5.0 to 10.0, and the degradation kinetics were not inhibited
by the common free radical scavengers, anions, or natural organic
matter. Quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSARs)
revealed the relationship between the degradation rate constant of
14 substituted phenols and their conventional descriptor variables
(i.e., Hammett constants σ, σ–, σ+), half-wave oxidation potential (E
1/2), and pK
a values. QSARs together with
the kinetic isotopic effect (KIE) recognized the electron transfer
as the dominant oxidation process. Characterizations and DFT calculation
indicated that the incorporated MgO alters the copper sites to highly
oxidized metal centers, offering a more suitable platform for PMS
to generate metastable copper intermediates. These highly oxidized
metals centers of copper played the key role in producing O2
•– after accepting an electron from another
PMS molecule, and finally 1O2 as sole reactive
species was generated from the direct oxidation of O2
•– through thermodynamically feasible reactions.