Alkylpolyglycoside modified MnFe₂O₄ with abundant oxygen vacancies boosting singlet oxygen dominated...

A novel alkylpolyglycoside (APG)-modified MnFe₂O₄ nanocomposite (APG@MnFe₂O₄) enriched with oxygen vacancies (VOs) was developed via co-precipitation and characterized as a peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activator to degrade 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) as the model contaminant. The APG effectively promoted the in situ formation of VOs on MnFe₂O₄ and subsequently enhanced the production of singlet oxygen (¹O₂). Furthermore, the APG@MnFe₂O₄ initialized an even more efficient non-radical pathway and dominated the degradation of 2,4-DCP. The constructed APG@MnFe₂O₄ exhibited a much higher reaction rate constant (0.0522) by ~12.73 times of that of the bare MnFe₂O₄ (0.0041). The degradation efficiency of 2,4-DCP in the APG@MnFe₂O₄/PMS system approached 93% within 90 min, a rate significantly higher than that in the MnFe₂O₄/PMS system (32%) given the same condition. The reasonable catalytic mechanism can be attributed to the Fe/Mn/VOs species. The APG@MnFe₂O₄ also exhibits universally high removal activity for various pollutants and excellent cyclic stability. Thus, the APG@MnFe₂O₄ is a promising PMS activator, and its utilization offers a useful strategy for developing VOs-enriched MnFe₂O₄ catalysts as a means of eliminating organic pollutants from wastewater.