Construction of cubic CaTiO3 perovskite modified by highly-dispersed cobalt for efficient catalytic degradation of psychoactive pharmaceuticals

Sulfate radical mediated advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) have emerged as a promising alternative for emerging contaminants degradation. However, high activity and great stability are commonly difficult to juggle, and the structure-activity correlations are still ambiguous. This study constructed the cubic CaTiO3 perovskite modified by highly-dispersed cobalt for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to improve the specific lattice plane exposure and reduce the metal leaching simultaneously. 98% of amitriptyline (AMT) degradation was achieved within 60 min under the condition of 200 mg/L Co0.1-CTO and 100 mg/L PMS. The results indicated that surface Co2+/Co3+ redox couple and lattice oxygen were responsible for PMS activation, and the evolution of center dot OH, SO4 center dot- and O-1(2) were revealed. According to density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the highly-dispersed Co on cubic surface effectively captured PMS and promoted electron transfer for the generation of center dot OH and SO4 center dot-, while more oxygen atoms exposed on Co0.1-CTO(200) surface facilitated the generation of O-1(2). Briefly, this study provides a novel strategy of catalyst synthesis in PMS activation for water treatment.

Automated summary

This study constructed highly dispersed cobalt-modified cubic CaTiO3 perovskite for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. The results showed that the surface Co2+/Co3+ redox couple and lattice oxygen were responsible for PMS activation, generating center dot OH, SO4 center dot-, and O-1(2). The study provides a novel strategy for catalyst synthesis in PMS activation for water treatment.