Co<sup>II</sup>–NC Catalytic Membrane for Advanced\nOxidation and Mineralization of Organic Pollutants

Advanced\noxidation processes (AOPs) have been extensively sought\nafter as alternatives to physical wastewater treatment processes due\nto their capability to destroy pollutants rather than merely relocating\nthem to other media. However, avoiding oxidation byproduct formation\nby completely oxidizing them into a benign end product, CO<sub>2</sub>, has been a difficult goal to achieve in practice. We here present\nan innovative catalytic membrane that efficiently activates peroxymonosulfate\nand mineralizes organic pollutants as polluted water passes through\nthe pores of the membrane. We developed a hydrothermal and calcination\nprocedure to synthesize cobalt hexacyanocobaltate (CoHC) catalysts\nwith unsaturated, atomically isolated Co<sup>II</sup>–N–C\ncatalytic sites. We further immobilized catalysts on the surface of\na commercial ceramic membrane. We demonstrate high performance of\nCoHC in creating both sulfate and hydroxyl radicals as well as a confined\nreaction environment. The optimized catalytic membrane achieves ∼80%\nmineralization via single-pass treatment with less than 5 min of reaction\ntime for a wide variety of organic pollutants in simulated domestic\nand industrial wastewaters. We further highlight engineering options\nfor practical application, cost effectiveness, and mechanisms behind\nexceptional performance.