Enhanced activation of peroxymonosulfate by abundant Co-Nx sites onto hollow N-doped carbon polyhedron for bisphenol A degradation via a nonradical mechanism

•Novel Co-embedded hollow N-doped carbon polyhedrons (Co/HNCPs) were fabricated.•Abundant Co-Nx sites obtained by tuning the temperatures were a critical factor.•Co/HNCP-900 could degrade 95.1 % BPA within 3 min.•A nonradical pathway was demonstrated to dominate the degradation of BPA.•Singlet oxygen and electron transfer played dominant roles in BPA degradation.