A Comparison Study between Wood Flour and Its Derived Biochar for the Enhancement of the Peroxydisulfate Activation Capability of Fe 3 O 4

In this study, both wood flour (WF) and wood flour-derived biochar (WFB) were used as supports for Fe 3 O 4 to activate peroxydisulfate (PDS). The role of different carriers was investigated emphatically from the aspects of catalyst properties, the degradation kinetics of bisphenol A (BPA), the effects of important parameters, and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Results showed that both WF and WFB could serve as good support for Fe 3 O 4 , which could control the release of iron into solution and increase the specific surface areas (SSAs). The WFB/Fe 3 O 4 had stronger PDS activation capability than WF/Fe 3 O 4 mainly due to the larger SSA of WFB/Fe 3 O 4 and the PDS activation ability of WFB. Both radical species (•OH and SO 4 •− ) and non-radical pathways, including 1 O 2 and high-valent iron-oxo species, contributed to the degradation of BPA in the WFB/Fe 3 O 4 –PDS process. Moreover, the WFB/Fe 3 O 4 catalyst also showed stronger ability to control the iron release, better reusability, and higher BPA mineralization efficiency than WF/Fe 3 O 4 .