The effect of peroxymonosulfate in WS2 nanosheets for the removal of diclofenac: Information exposure and degradation pathway

Abstract The search for a suitable heterogeneous catalyst in peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation holds tremendous promise for the degradation of organic pollutants. Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides such as WS2 exhibit broad applications in heterogeneous catalysis, and we first extended its application in PMS activation in this work. It was found that WS2 could efficiently activate PMS resulting in the degradation of diclofenac (DCF). The results show that the PMS offers direct oxidation, and WS2 could initiate PMS to produce singlet oxygen (1O2) and superoxide radical (·O2−). This resulted in the improved removal of DCF in the WS2/PMS system. Furthermore, the degradation pathway of DCF was proposed according to the detected intermediates/products and density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Degradation intermediates and the evaluation of product toxicity indicated that the developed WS2/PMS system was a safe and detoxifying process while also offering efficient DCF removal. This study offers more insight into the development of suitable materials for the activation of PMS and gives clear direction for the degradation of DCF and its toxic intermediates.