Persulfate Activation on Crystallographic Manganese Oxides: Mechanism of Singlet Oxygen Evolution for Nonradical Selective Degradation of Aqueous Contaminants

Minerals and transitional metal oxides of earth-abundant elements are desirable catalysts for in situ chemical oxidation in environmental remediation. However, catalytic activation of peroxydisulfate (PDS) by manganese oxides was barely investigated. In this study, one-dimension manganese dioxides (α- and β-MnO₂) were discovered as effective PDS activators among the diverse manganese oxides for selective degradation of organic contaminants. Compared with other chemical states and crystallographic structures of manganese oxide, β-MnO₂ nanorods exhibited the highest phenol degradation rate (0.044 min⁻¹, 180 min) by activating PDS. A comprehensive study was conducted utilizing electron paramagnetic resonance, chemical probes, radical scavengers, and different solvents to identity the reactive oxygen species (ROS). Singlet oxygen (¹O₂) was unveiled to be the primary ROS, which was generated by direct oxidation or recombination of superoxide ions and radicals from a metastable manganese intermediate at neutral pH. The study dedicates to the first mechanistic study into PDS activation over manganese oxides and provides a novel catalytic system for selective removal of organic contaminants in wastewater.