Magnetic cobalt nanoparticles embedded in a carbonaceous hydrogel for the activation of peroxymonosulfate to degrade azo dyes and organic pollutants.

Heterogeneous cobalt-based catalysts have recently gained attention as persulfate activators to degrade dyes and organic pollutants in sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs). This study fabricated magnetic cobalt nanoparticles embedded in a carbonaceous hydrogel (Co@C) using high-temperature pyrolysis of the Co-embedded chitosan-graft-poly(acrylic acid) (Co-embedded CTS-g-PAA) hydrogel. Subsequently, the prepared Co@C was evaluated as a peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activator for degrading azo dyes. The catalyst showed the highest performance toward reactive red 141 (RR141) than Congo red, methyl orange, direct yellow 50, and reactive black 5. RR141 was completely degraded within 10 min, with a 3.20 min pseudo-first-order rate constant. The degradation rate increased with higher catalyst dosage, PMS dosage, and temperature. The pH of the solution had a minimal effect on the degradation of RR141, indicating that the catalyst could be effective across a wide pH range. Moreover, the quenching experiment and the electron paramagnetic resonance analysis indicated that the catalytic system generated SO, HO•, O, and O. The RR141 degradation was slightly affected by Cl, NO, and SO. The catalyst demonstrated high efficiencies in real water samples. The catalyst could be easily recovered using a magnet and reused for ten cycles with only a 10% degradation efficiency loss. Furthermore, the catalyst could effectively degrade other organic pollutants, including tetracycline and 4-nitrophenol. This study demonstrates that the Co@C catalyst can effectively purify wastewater via SR-AOPs.