Lin Yimin, Qiao Junlian, Sun Yuankui, Dong Hongyu
State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
Department of Environmental Science, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
J Environ Sci (China). 2025 Jan;147:114-130. doi: 10.1016/j.jes.2023.10.005. Epub 2023 Oct 16.
Fenton and Fenton-like processes, which could produce highly reactive species to degrade organic contaminants, have been widely used in the field of wastewater treatment. Therein, the chemistry of Fenton process including the nature of active oxidants, the complicated reactions involved, and the behind reason for its strongly pH-dependent performance, is the basis for the application of Fenton and Fenton-like processes in wastewater treatment. Nevertheless, the conflicting views still exist about the mechanism of the Fenton process. For instance, reaching a unanimous consensus on the nature of active oxidants (hydroxyl radical or tetravalent iron) in this process remains challenging. This review comprehensively examined the mechanism of the Fenton process including the debate on the nature of active oxidants, reactions involved in the Fenton process, and the behind reason for the pH-dependent degradation of contaminants in the Fenton process. Then, we summarized several strategies that promote the Fe(II)/Fe(III) cycle, reduce the competitive consumption of active oxidants by side reactions, and replace the Fenton reagent, thus improving the performance of the Fenton process. Furthermore, advances for the future were proposed including the demand for the high-accuracy identification of active oxidants and taking advantages of the characteristic of target contaminants during the degradation of contaminants by the Fenton process.
芬顿和类芬顿过程能够产生高活性物种以降解有机污染物，已在废水处理领域得到广泛应用。其中，芬顿过程的化学原理，包括活性氧化剂的性质、所涉及的复杂反应以及其对pH值强烈依赖性能的背后原因，是芬顿和类芬顿过程在废水处理中应用的基础。然而，关于芬顿过程的机理仍然存在相互矛盾的观点。例如，在该过程中对活性氧化剂（羟基自由基或四价铁）的性质达成一致共识仍然具有挑战性。本综述全面研究了芬顿过程的机理，包括关于活性氧化剂性质的争论、芬顿过程中涉及的反应以及芬顿过程中污染物pH值依赖性降解的背后原因。然后，我们总结了几种促进Fe(II)/Fe(III)循环、减少副反应对活性氧化剂的竞争性消耗以及替代芬顿试剂的策略，从而提高芬顿过程的性能。此外，还提出了未来的发展方向，包括对活性氧化剂进行高精度鉴定的需求以及在芬顿过程降解污染物时利用目标污染物的特性。
