Citation: Guannan Zhou, Jiaqi Chen, Li Gong, Houyun Yang, Fazhi Xie, Yang Mu. Nitridated zero-valent iron-driven Fenton-like process for water purification: Performance and mechanism[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(11): 112651. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2026.112651 shu

Nitridated zero-valent iron-driven Fenton-like process for water purification: Performance and mechanism

Guannan Zhou ^{a, 1} ,
Jiaqi Chen ^{b, 1} ,
Li Gong ^c ,
Houyun Yang ^a ,
Fazhi Xie ^a ,
Yang Mu ^{b, *,}

a.
Pollution Control and Resource Utilization in Industrial Parks Joint Laboratory of Anhui Province, School of Environment and Energy Engineering, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei 230601, China
b.
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Environmental Technology, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
c.
College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China

yangmu@ustc.edu.cn

Received Date: 26 December 2025
Revised Date: 18 March 2026
Accepted Date: 19 March 2026
Available Online: 20 March 2026

Figures(5)

Nitridated zero-valent iron (N-ZVI) exhibits distinct advantages in the reductive pollutant removal, while its driven Fenton-like oxidation process for water purification remains largely unexplored. This study shows that mechanically N-ZVI enhanced the degradation kinetics of five typical pollutants by 3.5–9.4 times relative to pristine ZVI via H₂O₂ activation. Moreover, the N-ZVI/H₂O₂ system demonstrated considerable potential for practical water treatment applications owing to its substantially improved total organic carbon removal efficiency, enhanced cyclic stability, extended continuous operational lifespan and reduced acute toxicity of degradation products. While ^•OH, O₂^•-, and ¹O₂ were detected in the N-ZVI/H₂O₂ system, ^•OH was identified as the dominant reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsible for pollutant degradation. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the Fe-N_x coordination structures on N-ZVI facilitated electron transfer from the Fe(0) core to the surface, thereby accelerating both Fe(0) corrosion and surface Fe(Ⅲ)/Fe(Ⅱ) cycle for H₂O₂ activation, which enhances the generation of surface ^•OH via Fenton-like reaction. This study advances the fundamental understanding of ZVI-based advanced oxidation processes for water purification.
- Nitridation,
- Zero-valent iron,
- H₂O₂ activation,
- Fe-N_x coordination structures,
- Fe(Ⅲ)/Fe(Ⅱ) cycle
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