Sulfur-doped α-Fe 2 O 3 as an efficient and recycled peroxydisulfate activator toward organic pollutant degradation: performance and mechanism

Sulfur (S)-doped α-Fe 2 O 3 has been regarded as an excellent catalyst for eliminating organic pollutants in the photo-Fenton-like reaction. Yet, the synthetic complexity and extremely low activity in the dark Fenton-like reaction still need to be solved. In this study, magnetic α-Fe 2 O 3 with sulfide was successfully fabricated via hydrothermal and calcination processes, for the first time, where thiourea acted as both S source and reducing agent, and then, it was applied for activating peroxydisulfate (PDS) to degrade organic contaminants. Important influencing factors were systemically investigated, and the results showed that this catalyst activating PDS was highly effective in the removal of organic pollutants in dark- and photo-Fenton-like reactions. In addition, the catalyst possessed good stability and recyclable ability. The structure of catalyst was analyzed by several characterizations, such as XRD and XPS. The results revealed that sulfide had an important effect on the structure and performance of α-Fe 2 O 3 . The detected mechanism indicated that the main reactive oxygen species were altered after switching from darkness to LED illumination. This work offered a promising method to rationally design for S/α-Fe 2 O 3 in the environmental remediation.