High-efficiency degradation of carbamazepine by the synergistic electro-activation and bimetals (FeCo@NC) catalytic-activation of peroxymonosulfate

This study developed a novel advanced oxidation process, coupling activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) by electrochemistry and catalyst based on an advanced electrocatalyst. Herein, nitrogen-rich porous carbon decorated with FeCo alloy (FeCo@NC) was fabricated to modify carbon felt (FeCo@NC/CF) to remove carbamazepine (CBZ) via electro-enhanced activation of PMS (E-FeCo@NC/CF-PMS). C–C, O-CO and M=O contents in FeCo@NC are positively correlated with CBZ degradation (r2 =0.937 and 0.942). Benefit from the obvious synergistic effect (S=3.49) of electro-activation and catalytic-activation caused by electrowetting, CBZ removal (k = 0.0811 min−1) was significantly improved with extremely low electric energy consumption (EEC, 0.0506 kWh log−1 m−3). Electric field facilitates the regeneration of key catalytic components Fe2+ and Co2+. •OH (derived from the co-activation) and electron-transfer process (derived from catalytic-activation) were the underlying catalysis mechanisms. This work provided new vision to promote the practical utilization of Fenton-like reaction with high-efficiency and low-cost. [Display omitted] •A remarkable synergy between electro-activation and catalytic-activation was found.•Electrowetting is responsible for the high synergistic effect.•C–C, O-CO and M=O contents in FeCo@NC are positively correlated with CBZ removal.•OH derived from the co-activation and ETP derived from the catalytic-activation.•The E-FeCo@NC/CF-PMS system exhibited ultra-low EEC (0.0506 kWh∙log−1 m−3).