Fe-N-C Catalyst Derived from MOFs with Enhanced Catalytic Performance for Selective Oxidation of Emerging Contaminants

Fe-N-C/peroxymonosulfate (PMS) systems have demonstrated selective oxidation of pollutants, but the underlying mechanism and reasons for variability remain unclear. In this work, we synthesized a highly active Fe-N-C catalyst derived from MOFs using pyrolysis protection strategy. We assessed its catalytic activity by employing PMS as an activator pollutant degradation. The presence Fe-Nx sites favored performance FeMIL-N-C, exhibiting 23 times higher compared to N-C. Moreover, investigated degradation FeMIL-N-C/PMS system through both experimental theoretical analyses, focusing on pollutants with diverse electronic structures, namely bisphenol A (BPA) atrazine (ATZ)N-C. Our findings revealed that ATZ primarily follows free radical pathway, whereas BPA is dominated electron transfer pathways. Specifically, low LUMO- HOMO energy gap can be degraded via pathway. Conversely, high LUMO-HOMO (ATZ) exhibit limited donation predominantly undergo This work introduces novel insights into mechanisms facilitating deeper understanding effective removal strategies.