Boosting bisphenol A degradation through activation of persulfate by iron-doped γ-MnO2

The iron-doped γ-MnO2 catalyst (Fe-MnO2) was successfully prepared using a one-pot co-precipitation method. Morphological and structural characterization indicated that iron elements were uniformly incorporated into the γ-MnO2 lattice without the emergence of iron oxide peaks. The prepared Fe-MnO2 exhibited superior performance in activating persulfate (PDS) for the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) compared to pure γ-MnO2. The process can efficiently remove 10 ppm of BPA within 120 minutes, achieving a pseudo-first-order kinetic constant (k) of 0.0301 min-1, which was approximately 100 times higher than that of pure γ-MnO2. The Fe-MnO2 material demonstrated excellent PDS activation capabilities, providing a significant amount of non-radical 1O2 for the advanced oxidation reaction system. The high concentration of 1O2 non-radicals reacted with BPA, leading to its degradation. Additionally, the Fe-MnO2 catalyst displayed good stability, maintaining its activity and achieving complete degradation of 10 ppm of BPA even after five cycles of experiments. Its effectiveness in removing pollutants remained unaffected under neutral and acidic pH conditions, making it a viable option for BPA degradation.