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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

A Complete Method for Evaluating the Performance of Photocatalysts for the Degradation of Antibiotics in Environmental Remediation
Published on: October 6, 2022
Precisely regulating the microenvironment towards robust active site for antibiotics degradation via Fenton-like
Jiahao Cui1, Wei Jian2, Di Meng2
1Institute of Environment and Health, Department of Chemistry and Environment Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, 100220 Hohhot, China; Institute of Environmental Research at Greater Bay, Guangzhou University, 510006 Guangzhou, China.
None:
A limited understanding of micro-structure-activity relationship hinders a precise control of the electronic and geometric structure of the active sites for efficient peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. In this study, we present a rational synthetic strategy to simultaneously tailor the coordination geometry of single-atom Fe and the molecular structure of the support. The results reveal the critical impact of the molecular configuration of the support on the catalytic behavior of Fe-N3 center. High catalytic activity of Fe-N3 site requires homogeneous distribution of C and N atoms in the support, whereas the local aggregation of C-atoms into "graphene-like island" diminishes the catalytic performance. Fe-N3 site with homogeneously distributed C and N atoms in the support exhibits catalytic activity an order of magnitude higher than that of Fe-N4; while Fe-N3 site with nearby "graphene-like island" in support shows similar or even lower catalytic activity than that of Fe-N4. Fe(IV)=O is identified as the predominant active species responsible for pollutant degradation, and the theoretical simulation reveals that the surrounding molecular configuration of Fe-N3 critically influences the thermodynamics of Fe(IV)=O formation. These findings underscore the importance of jointly regulating the coordination geometry and the molecular features of the support for designing an efficient single-atom catalyzed water treatment process.
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