Carbon nanotube-activated persulfate for degradation of new contaminants: Process, performance, and mechanism

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are widely used in various catalytic reactions due to their advantages such as large specific surface area and excellent thermoelectric conductivity. In this paper, a review is presented on the state-of-the art of carbon nanotube-based persulfate activation for degradation of new contaminants. The performance of carbon nanotube (CNT) materials to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and peroxydisulfate (PDS) for degradation of organic pollutants, and their constitutive-efficacy relationships, are systematically summarized in terms of heteroatom doping, oxygen-containing functional group regulation, defect degree regulation and complexation with metals; Possible causes and regeneration methods are proposed to address the issue of poor cycling stability of CNT materials; a detailed discussion is conducted on the possible reaction mechanisms and identification methods of CNT materials for removing organic contaminants; finally, the application potential and future research direction of CNT materials in the field of environmental remediation are presented.