Boron-doping accelerated Cu(II)/Cu(I) cycle for enhancing peroxymonosulfate activation

The synergistic effect of radicals and non-radical pathways has attracted much attention for pollutant removal in complex water environments. A novel B-doped CuO/Cu2O composite material (B-CuxO) was synthesized to activate PMS for the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA). XPS and FT-IR proved that B was doped into the CuxO, which changed the proportion of Cu(II) and Cu(I). As a result, the cycle of Cu(II)/Cu(I) was promoted and the kinetic degradation rate of BPA increased by 12 times. The radicals quenching experiments and EPR verified the effects of radicals (.OH and SO4.-) and non-radical (1O2) pathways in the pollution degradation processes. The results show that B doping accelerated the Cu(II)/Cu(I) cycle, and at the same time realized the synergistic effect of radicals and non-radical. The PMS/B-CuxO system exhibited consistent performance in a wide pH range of 5-11. The toxicity evaluation of the transformation products among BPA solutions was studied. This study provided a novel method for accelerating the catalysis of radicals and non-radical synergy.