Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2025, Vol. 79: 186-204.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(25)64841-8

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Synergistic catalysis of oxygen vacancy and S-scheme heterojunction in NiFe2O4‒x/NiS regulates peroxymonosulfate activation for enhanced photo-Fenton-like reaction

Yan Wanga, Xiaorui Yana, Zeyang Suna, Jinjun Liua, Yiwen Wanga, Chenchao Hua, Yilin Dengb, Meng Xiec,*(), Jimin Xied,*(), Wei Zhangb, Yuanguo Xua,*()   

  1. aSchool of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, Jiangsu, China
    bInstitute for Energy Research, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, Jiangsu, China
    cSchool of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, Jiangsu, China
    dJiangsu Jiangke Graphene Research Institute Co., Ltd., Zhenjiang 212000, Jiangsu, China
  • Received:2025-06-03 Accepted:2025-08-13 Online:2025-12-05 Published:2025-10-27
  • Contact: Meng Xie, Jimin Xie, Yuanguo Xu
  • Supported by:
    Fundamental Research and Development Plan of Zhenjiang City in 2024(Common Key Technologies)(GJ2024012);Fundamental Research and Development Plan of Zhenjiang City in 2024(Common Key Technologies)(GY2024027);Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation(BK20221295);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22076068);National Natural Science Foundation of China(21777063)

Abstract:

The regulation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation by constructing oxygen vacancy and heterogeneous interface catalytic is crucial towards the oxidation of refractory pollutants still remains a major hurdle. This work demonstrates a strategy to constructed ethylene glycol (EG) well-coupled S-scheme heterojunction of NiFe2O4‒x/NiS with oxygen vacancy (VO)-modified to efficiently achieve pollutant removal by activating PMS through photoexcitation, a 99% PMS decomposition efficiency is achieved. Photoassisted Kelvin probe force microscopy and in-situ electron spin resonance verify the establishment of a charge-transfer pathway consistent in NiFe2O4-x/NiS with an S-scheme heterojunction, which dramatically provides abundant active sites and distinct charge transport pathway for organic pollutant oxidation. The S-scheme NiFe2O4-x/NiS heterojunction in the photo-Fenton-like system exhibited significantly enhanced degradation rate (0.15 min-1) at a low PMS dosage of 0.1 g/L, which is 19 times greater than that of the pristine NiS (0.0077 min-1). Density functional theory calculations confirmed that VO in NiFe2O4-x/NiS efficiently promoted PMS adsorption and lowered the energy barrier for electron transfer. Moreover, in-situ experiments and experimental evidence offer mechanistic insights into the PMS activation through photoexcitation, unraveling a dual-pathway activation mechanism involving reduction and oxidation processes over NiFe2O4-x/NiS during the reaction. This work emphasizes the potential of vacancy engineering synergistic S-scheme heterojunction in developing efficient catalysts for regulating PMS activation, providing a promising solution the cost-effective and efficient treatment of organic wastewater.

Key words: S-scheme heterojunction, Oxygen vacancy, Photo-Fenton-like, Peroxymonosulfate activation, Pollution degradation