Piezoelectricity ameliorates high-valent iron oxo species production in peroxymonosulfate activation for refractory atrazine remediation

Over the past few years, high-valent iron oxo species (Fe(IV)) have shown considerable promise. However, an improved solution is needed for the bottleneck of unsatisfactory electron transfer efficiency in Fe-based catalyst/PMS systems. In this study, Enteromorpha-derived biochar was pyrolyzed with iron and barium titanate (FeBCBa). Under ultrasonic treatment, it removes 94.5% of atrazine (10 mg/L) within 60 min, and is environmentally friendly. BaTiO3′s piezoelectricity enhances Fe(IV) production in FeBCBa, resulting in superior performance. In the ultrasonic condition, the apparent reaction rate was 1.42 times higher than in the non-ultrasonic condition. Using density functional theory calculations, it can be shown that due to the Fe dopant, electrons in ATZ's LUMO are more easily transferred to the catalyst's HOMO, which is beneficial for ATZ removal. The results of this study provide new guidance for constructing stable and efficient catalysts for environmental remediation.