3D hollow sphere-like Cu-incorporated LaAlO3 perovskites for peroxymonosulfate activation: Coaction of electron transfer and oxygen defect

To develop an efficient catalyst with novel structure and limited metal release for enhanced PMS activation, a 3D hollow sphere like Cu-incorporated LaAlO3 perovskite was synthesized based on soft chemical process with template-free. It was evaluated as the heterogeneous catalyst firstly to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the oxidative degradation of several typical pharmaceuticals in water. The mechanism study indicated a coaction of electron transfer and oxygen defects in this system. The obtained catalyst can promote electron transfer efficiency of Cu+/Cu2+ cycle and provide abundant oxygen defects for catalytic oxidation, which is responsible for the generation of center dot OH, SO4 center dot (-). and O-1(2) . These active species played crucial roles in efficient degradation of thiamphenicol (TAP), diclofenac sodium (DCF), ibuprofen (IBF) and paracetamol (PR), achieving more than 95% removal within 30 min. The catalyst kept high removal efficiency over pH range from 5.0 to 9.1 and suppressed copper leaching in reaction process. Besides, the catalyst exhibited good performance for TAP degradation and mineralization in raw water matrixes from Taihu Lake Basin, which showed a possible practical application to the remediation of water pollution.