Citation: Ning CHEN, Jingle CHEN, Hongyuan ZHU, Huali CHEN, Liguang WU, Ting WANG. Mechanism and performance regulation of Co/Zr-doped mesoporous TiO₂ catalysts in activating sodium persulfate for tetracycline degradation[J]. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, ;2026, 42(3): 507-518. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20250275 shu

Mechanism and performance regulation of Co/Zr-doped mesoporous TiO₂ catalysts in activating sodium persulfate for tetracycline degradation

School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310012, China

Corresponding author: Ting WANG, zjwtwaiting@hotmail.com
Received Date: 2 September 2025
Revised Date: 29 January 2026

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To develop an environmentally friendly Ti-based mesoporous catalyst for efficient persulfate activation toward organic pollutant degradation, Co- and Zr-doped mesoporous TiO₂ catalysts (Co-TiO₂ and Zr-TiO₂) were prepared. The mechanisms governing active species generation and tetracycline (TC) degradation performance during sodium persulfate (PDS) activation were investigated. Structural characterization results revealed that both Co and Zr doping significantly enhanced the specific surface area and oxygen vacancy concentration of the catalysts. Specifically, Zr⁴⁺ doping induced lattice distortion due to its larger ionic radius compared to Ti⁴⁺, while Co doping facilitated electron migration owing to the electronegativity difference between Co and Ti. TC degradation experiments demonstrated that the Co-TiO₂/PDS and Zr-TiO₂/PDS systems achieved TC degradation rates of 93.1% and 89.6% within 6 h, respectively, significantly outperforming the undoped TiO₂/PDS system. Their reaction rate constants were 2.8 times and 2.4 times higher than that of the undoped system. Quenching experiments and electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis confirmed that hydroxyl radicals (·OH) was the primary active species in the Co-TiO₂/PDS system, whereas singlet oxygen (¹O₂) served as the primary active species in the Zr-TiO₂/PDS system. Phosphate (PO₄^3-) addition experiments demonstrated that modulating hydroxyl groups on the catalyst surface could optimize the reactant utilization efficiency (η_RU) of the Co-TiO₂/PDS system. This study elucidates the discrepancies in the PDS activation process by metal-doped mesoporous TiO₂ catalysts and the regulatory mechanisms governing reactive species and contaminant degradation performance.
- mesoporous TiO₂,
- doping modification,
- persulfate activation,
- reactive oxygen species,
- degradation mechanism,
- tetracycline
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通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com

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沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院沈阳 110142

Mechanism and performance regulation of Co/Zr-doped mesoporous TiO2 catalysts in activating sodium persulfate for tetracycline degradation

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通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com

Mechanism and performance regulation of Co/Zr-doped mesoporous TiO₂ catalysts in activating sodium persulfate for tetracycline degradation