Overall
- Language
- English
- Conflict of Interest
- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
- Publication history
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Received December 29, 2025
Revised March 9, 2026
Accepted March 11, 2026
Available online June 25, 2026
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Most Cited
Remarkable 4 Nitrophenol Degradation and Mineralization Performance Using Simple-Fabricated Oxygen Vacancy-Rich Copper Oxide/Peroxymonosulfate Photocatalytic System
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-026-00705-3
Abstract
Inducing intrinsic oxygen vacancies (VO) through structural engineering, rather than relying on complex doping or heterostructure
formation, represents a novel and simplified strategy in developing high-efficiency catalyst. In this work, we
report a facile and scalable chemical precipitation route to synthesize copper (II) oxide (CuO) nanorods (NRs) characterized
by an unprecedented density of VO defects. These NRs serve as an extraordinary activator for peroxymonosulfate
(PMS) in a sulfate (SO•−
4 ) radical-based advanced oxidation process (AOP). The CuO-PMS synergy achieved significant
degradation of 10 ppm of 4-nitrophenol (4NP), reaching 84.47% degradation and 88.11% total organic carbon (TOC)
mineralization within 5 min. With only small doses of 0.1 g/L CuO and 0.65 mM PMS, the system further achieved
95.36% degradation and 91.39% mineralization of the same sample. This high performance is attributed to the synergy of
lower crystallinity, higher surface area, and greater VO defects presence in the NRs compared to bulk CuO. The system
operated effectively under normal to low-alkaline pH conditions, exhibiting a high capacity to oxidize higher 4NP doses,
demonstrating excellent reusability, and a wide applicability range for various pollutants. Singlet oxygen (1O2) has been
identified as the main driver of the oxidation process, as confirmed by scavenger tests. This study provides a pivotal blueprint
for the design of defect-rich binary metal oxides, offering a pragmatic yet powerful solution for high-performance
wastewater remediation.
