High efficiency and rapid degradation of bisphenol A by the synergy between adsorption and oxidization on the MnO2@nano hollow carbon sphere

In this research, a novel efficiency MnO2@Nano hollow carbon sphere (MnO2@NHCS) nanocomposite was prepared by one-pot hydrothermal reaction with KMnO4 solution. The adsorption and oxidization performance of MnO2@NHCS were assessed by degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) at different conditions. The effect of dosage of MnO2@NHCS, pH, initial concentration of BPA, temperature and humic acid were investigated systematically. Moreover, the characterizations of MnO2@NHCS were measured by a series of techniques, such as XRD, FESEM, HRTEM, TGA and XPS. Notably, hollow structure of nano carbon sphere was still retained with uniform MnO2 nanosheets covered. The results show that the removal rate of BPA was 95.3% within 10 min and BPA can be almost decomposed in 30 min under the optimal conditions. Additionally, the MnO2@NHCS remained stable and had a high regeneration efficiency (more than 85%) after 3 cycles (360 min). The reaction intermediates/products of oxidation of BPA were analyzed and the possible degradation pathways of BPA were proposed. These research results demonstrate that the MnO2@NHCS is a fleet and efficient material for BPA degradation in aqueous environment.