Bimetallic catalysts have significantly contributed to the chemical community, especially in environmental science. In this work, a CoAl₂O₄ spinel bimetal oxide was synthesized by a facile co-precipitation method and used for the degradation of organic pollutants through peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. Compared with Co₃O₄, the as-prepared CoAl₂O₄ possesses a higher specific surface area and a larger pore volume, which contributes to its becoming increasingly conducive to the degradation of organic pollutants. Under optimal conditions (calcination temperature: 500 °C, catalyst: 0.1 g/L, and PMS: 0.1 g/L), the as-prepared CoAl₂O₄ catalyst could degrade over 99% of rhodamine B (RhB) at a degradation rate of 0.048 min⁻¹, which is 2.18 times faster than Co₃O₄ (0.022 min⁻¹). The presence of Cl⁻ could enhance RhB degradation in the CoAl₂O₄/PMS system, while HCO₃⁻ and CO₃²⁻ inhibit RhB degradation. Furthermore, the considerable reusability and universality of CoAl₂O₄ were testified. Through quenching tests, ¹O₂ and SO₄•⁻ were identified as the primary reactive species in RhB degradation. The toxicity evaluation verified that the degraded solution exhibited lower biological toxicity than the initial RhB solution. This study provides new prospects in the design of cost-effective and stable cobalt-based catalysts and promotes the application of PMS-based advanced oxidation processes for refractory wastewater treatment.

In this work, calcined chitosan-supported layered double hydroxides (CSLDO) were synthesized through a co-precipitation method that restrained the particles’ aggregation of LDHs and exhibited huge specific surface areas, which can enhance the fluoride adsorption capacity. CSLDOs were characterized by physical and chemical methods and used for fluoride adsorption in an aqueous solution. The results indicated that the nanoparticles were constructed first and then assembled to form a porous and layered structure, and chitosan-supported layered double hydroxides (CSLDHs) calcined at 400 °C (CSLDO400) showed the highest specific surface area of 116.98 m²·g⁻¹ and the largest pore volume of 0.411 cm³·g⁻¹. CSLDO400 exhibited excellent adsorption performance at a wide pH range from 5 to 9 for fluoride. The adsorption kinetics indicated that the adsorption reached equilibrium after 120 min, and followed a pseudo-first-order model. It agreed well with the Langmuir isotherm with maximum adsorption amounts of 27.56 mg·g⁻¹. The adsorption of fluoride ions was spontaneous and endothermic. Furthermore, CSLDO400 showed a high stability for fluoride removal; it could still achieve 68% removal for fluoride after repeating five times of adsorption–desorption cycles. This study demonstrated that CSLDO400 is a promising functional material to remove fluoride from surface/ground water.

Organic pollutants entering water bodies lead to severe water pollution, posing a threat to human health. The activation of persulfate advanced oxidation processes using carbon materials derived from MOFs as substrates can efficiently treat wastewater contaminated with organic pollutants. This research uses NH₂-MIL-101(Fe) as a substrate, doped with Fe²⁺ and Co²⁺, to prepare Fe/Co-CNs through a one-step carbonization method. The surface morphology, pore structure, and chemical composition of Fe/Co-CNs were investigated using characterization techniques such as XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, FT-IR, BET, and Raman. A comparative study was conducted on the performance of catalysts with different Fe/Co ratios in activating PMS for the degradation of organic pollutants, as well as the effects of various influencing factors (the dosage of Fe/Co-CNs, the amount of peroxymonosulfate (PMS), the initial pH of the solution, the TC concentration, and inorganic anions) on the catalyst’s activation of persulfate for TC degradation. Through radical quenching experiments and post-degradation XPS analysis, the active radicals in the FeCo-CNs/PMS system were investigated to explain the possible mechanism of TC degradation in the Fe/Co-CNs/PMS system. The results indicate that Fe/Co-CNs-2 (with a Co²⁺ doping amount of 20%) achieves a degradation rate of 93.34% for TC (tetracycline hydrochloride) within 30 min when activating PMS, outperforming other Co²⁺ doping amounts. In addition, singlet oxygen (¹O₂) is the main reactive species in the reaction system.

Phosphate tailings (PTs) are solid waste, which is produced by phosphate flotation. In this work, PTs were used as raw materials for the preparation of diethylenetriamine pentamethronic acid (DTPMP) intercalated trimetal (Ca-Mg-Al) layered double hydroxides (TM-DTPMP LDHs) by co-precipitation method. TM-DTPMP LDHs were characterized by X-ray diffraction, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, differential thermal gravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and applied as a flame retardant to improve the fire safety of epoxy resin (EP). The results showed that the composite materials exhibited obvious layered structure. After intercalation, layer spacing increased from 0.783 to 1.78 Å. When the amount of TM-DTPMP LDH in EP was 8%, the limitted oxygen index of the composite material increased from the original 19.2% to 30.2%. In addition, Cone calorimeter (CC) and Raman spectrum results indicated that with the addition of TM-DTPMP LDHs, the value of heat release rate peak (pHRR) and total heat release (THR) were reduced by more than 43% and 60%, while the value of smoke formation rate (pSPR) and the total smoke production (TSP) decreased nearly 64% and 83%, respectively. The significant reduction in the release of combustion heat and harmful smoke during EP combustion may be attributed to the synergistic flame-retardant effect between hydrotalcite and DTPMP. This work exhibited great potential for the green recycling of PTs and the enhancement of the fire safety of EP.

In this work, phosphate tailings (PTs) were used as raw materials for the preparation of Ca-Mg-Al layered double hydroxides (LDHs-1) and Ca-Mg-Al-Fe layered double hydroxides (LDHs-2) by co-precipitation method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by FT-IR, SEM, XRD, and XPS and applied as a flame retardant to improve the fire safety of epoxy resin (EP). The results showed that both LDHs-1 and LDHs-2 exhibited layered structure and high crystallinity. Compared with neat EP, the value of limiting oxygen index (LOI) increased from 25.8 to 29.3 and 29.9 with 8 wt% content of LDHs-1 and LDHs-2, respectively. The flame retardant properties of the composite material were characterized by cone calorimeter (CC), and the results showed that the peak value of the smoke production rate (SPR) decreased more than 45% and 74%, total smoke production (TSP) reduced nearly 64% and 85% with the addition of LDHs-1 and LDHs-2. Meanwhile, the value of the total heat release (THR) reduced more than 28% and 63%. The conversion from LDHs to layered double oxide (LDO) might be conducive to the fire safety of EP. Moreover, the transformation of Fe-OH to Fe-O could promote the early cross-linking of polymer. In summary, LDHs-2 could significantly improve the carbonization process of EP and suppress the smoke released during the combustion process.

The sustainable management of industrial byproducts represents a critical challenge for the aluminum industry. This study developed a cost-effective adsorbent (SA@RM) derived from sodium alginate and red mud for fluoride removal, addressing both solid waste utilization and water purification needs. Systematic adsorption experiments revealed optimal performance under conditions of 15 g/L dosage and pH 5, achieving adsorption equilibrium within 40 min for initial fluoride concentrations of 11.7 mg/L. Notably, the adsorbent demonstrated exceptional cyclic stability, maintaining 54.8% adsorption capacity through three regeneration cycles. The adsorption process followed the Langmuir isotherm model (R² = 0.994) and pseudo-second-order kinetics (R² = 0.975), indicating monolayer chemisorption as the dominant mechanism. Advanced characterization techniques (SEM-EDS, FT-IR, XPS) elucidated three main mechanisms: fluoride complexation with aluminum oxides, ligand exchange with surface hydroxyl groups, and ion exchange with chloride species. This material achieves 92% fluoride removal while valorizing industrial waste, reducing adsorbent production costs by 60–70% compared to conventional materials. The detailed mechanism analysis provides fundamental insights for designing waste-derived adsorbents, offering a practical solution for sustainable industrial development and water treatment applications.