Modulating mesoporous Co3O4 hollow nanospheres with oxygen vacancies for highly efficient peroxymonosulfate activation

[Display omitted] •Heat treatment method was used to induce oxygen vacancy (VO) into Co3O4 nanospheres.•Co3O4 nanospheres with VO can efficiently activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS).•VO improved the charge-transfer process in the Co3O4/PMS system.•Singlet oxygen and superoxide radicals were mainly involved for bisphenol A degradation. The role of oxygen vacancy (VO) in catalyst is manifested to be positive in the Fenton-like process. However, rational modulation of VO with a simple strategy for the efficient Fenton-like catalysts remains desirable and challenging. Here a facile heat treatment method without any additives was demonstrated to introduce VO on mesoporous cobalt oxide (Co3O4) hollow nanospheres, which served as highly reactive and stable Fenton-like catalysts for recalcitrant organic pollutants (bisphenol A, BPA) degradation by activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS). The VO-rich Co3O4 nanospheres exhibited superior BPA removal efficiency with high BPA degradation rate (0.0232 min−1, 100 min). The concentration of VO in Co3O4 was proved to act as an important role for the PMS activating efficiency. A series of mechanism studies, including radical scavengers, chemical probes and electrochemical characterizations, were conducted to identify the active radicals generated by PMS activation. Singlet oxygen produced from the VO-based reaction pathway, rather than sulfate radical and hydroxyl radical, was unveiled to play a key role in the BPA degradation process. This work provided new insight into designing transition metal oxide-based Fenton-like catalysts with efficient and sustainable remediation of refractory organic contaminants in wastewater.