Citation: Shuo Chen, Yuxuan Xiang, Qiulin Yang, Shuang Meng, Chuanshu He, Yang Liu, Jing Zhang, Zhaokun Xiong, Peng Zhou, Bo Lai. Amorphous-boron boosted Fenton-like activation of periodate for water remediation: Multiple routes for generating reactive oxygen species[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(5): 111838. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111838 shu

Amorphous-boron boosted Fenton-like activation of periodate for water remediation: Multiple routes for generating reactive oxygen species

Shuo Chen ^{a, b} ,
Yuxuan Xiang ^{a, b} ,
Qiulin Yang ^{c, d} ,
Shuang Meng ^{a, b} ,
Chuanshu He ^{a, b} ,
Yang Liu ^{a, b} ,
Jing Zhang ^{a, b} ,
Zhaokun Xiong ^{a, b} ,
Peng Zhou ^{a, b, *,} ,
Bo Lai ^{a, b}

a.
State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
b.
Sino-German Centre for Water and Health Research, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
c.
Sichuan Development Environmental Science and Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd., Chengdu 610095, China
d.
Sichuan Provincial Industrial Wastewater Pollution Control and Low Carbon Resource Utilization Engineering Technology Research Center, Chengdu 610095, China

zhoup1219@sina.com

Received Date: 4 June 2025
Revised Date: 27 August 2025
Accepted Date: 15 September 2025
Available Online: 16 September 2025

Figures(6)

Although periodate (PI) activation via iron-based Fenton-like reactions effectively generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) for pollutant degradation, Fe(Ⅲ) accumulation poses a major challenge to sustained ROS generation. Here, amorphous-boron (AB) was employed as a co-catalyst for boosting Fenton-like activation of PI (primarily Fe(Ⅲ)/PI) towards water decontamination, and the AB/Fe(Ⅲ)/PI process can promptly and steadily oxidize sulfamethoxazole (SMX) during 5 cycling tests. Through integrated qualitative and semi-quantitative analyses of ROS, including EPR, quenching, and chemical probes, AB can directly activate PI to produce hydroxyl radical and indirectly accelerate Fenton-like activation of PI to produce Fe(Ⅳ) by reducing Fe(Ⅲ). The synergetic routes of radical (hydroxyl radical) and non-radical (Fe(Ⅳ)) ensure the high capability of AB/Fe(Ⅲ)/PI for degrading a wide variety of contaminants with diversiform molecular structures. Moreover, characterizations (XPS, EPR, HAADF-STEM, HRTEM, Raman, and XRD) reveals the stepwise boron oxidation via B-B bond cleavage can sustainably donate electron for direct and indirect activation of PI. The self-cleaning surface caused by the synergetic stepwise oxidation of boron and dissolution of boron oxide maintains the high stability of AB for co-catalyzing Fenton-like activation of PI during long-term operation. Therefore, this study proposes a novel Fenton-like technique for eliminating organic contaminants with low iron sludge output and long-term stability.
- Fenton-like reaction,
- Boron,
- Fe(Ⅲ)/Fe(Ⅱ) circulation,
- Radical and nonradical pathways,
- Co-catalyst
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