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[Display omitted] • The synergistic effect of natural minerals for persulfate activation were reviewed. • The mechanism of persulfate activation and contaminants degradation were summarized. • We pointed out that the major challenges and direction of mineral-based catalysts. • This review is meaningful for the high-value-added application and functional specialization of minerals. The severity of environmental pollution poses a serious threat to human health, and especially organic pollution is more complex and difficult to treat compared to heavy metal pollution. Nowadays, the persulfate-based advanced oxidation processes receive more and more attention due to high efficiency, strong controllability, easy operation, and economic competitiveness, which is generally employed for the efficient degradation of organic contaminants. Natural minerals possess the characteristics of low-cost, easy availability, environmental friendliness, non-toxic, special structural effects, etc., which have played a critical role and could be the promising alternative to traditional catalysts for persulfate activation. First, this review retrospects the research status of natural minerals and mineral-based catalysts for persulfate activation to degrade organic contaminants, i.e., pyrite, mackinawite, copper sulfide, kaolinite, and montmorillonite. Then, the mechanisms of persulfate activation by natural minerals and mineral-based catalysts to generate the reactive oxygen species including SO 4 •−, •OH, •O 2 −, 1O 2 , and surface reactive complex for contaminants degradation are systematically summarized. Finally, we discussed the further application of natural minerals in activating persulfate as well as the future research frontiers for practical environmental remediation, i.e., the synthesis and characterization of mineral-based catalysts dominated by non-radical pathway, the large-scale application of PDS with low-cost, the surface modification of mineral-based catalysts with amphiphilicity, as well as the more efficient catalysts possessing nano-restricted domain catalytic effect. The development and expansion of novel and efficient mineral-based catalysts with enhanced synergistic effects would provide new opportunities for persulfate activation in environmental remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Novel nZVI/kaolinite composite was prepared by liquid-phase reduction method. • nZVI particles with oxide layer were embedded into kaolinite surface and edges. • nZVI/kaolinite exhibits high efficiency for BPA removal with PMS activation. • SO 4 •− and 1O 2 were proved to be the main active components. • The possible degradation pathways were well analyzed and illustrated. Nano-zero valent iron/kaolinite (nZVI/kaolinite) composite was prepared by liquid-phase reduction method in the presence of sodium borohydride. Transmission Electron Microscope images demonstrated that spherical nZVI particles with oxide layer were successfully engaged into the kaolinite surface and edges, which was beneficial to the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation and bisphenol A (BPA) degradation. The prepared nZVI/kaolinite composite was endowed with excellent performance in removing BPA with the assistance of PMS, namely more than 95% BPA could be eliminated in 15 min. In contrast with alkaline environment, weak acid and neutral environment were more advantageous to the BPA degradation. All the anions like Cl−, SO 4 2−, HCO 3 − and H 2 PO 4 − were adverse to the BPA degradation in nZVI/kaolinite/PMS system. Furthermore, EPR and radical quenching experiments proved that SO 4 •− and 1O 2 were the main active components during the series reactions. The possible degradation pathways were also inferred based on the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) results. Besides, the nZVI/kaolinite composite displayed good performance toward coking wastewater as well. This study is of great significance in designing of efficient persulfate activated materials and treating wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Novel γ-FeOOH/g-C 3 N 4 /kaolinite composite was fabricated via two-step strategy. • Efficient electron transfer induced by γ-FeOOH and N vacancies promote the separation and migration of photo-generated carriers. • γ-FeOOH/g-C 3 N 4 /kaolinite catalyst possessed good bisphenol A removal efficiency. • The potential synergistic enhancement mechanism was well proposed. A novel ternary composite with the flower-like structure was synthesized by integrating of γ-FeOOH and g-C 3 N 4 /kaolinite containing N vacancies (FNGK). The FNGK-10 composite exhibited the superiority of bisphenol A (BPA) degradation in the presence of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) under the visible-light irradiation with the outstanding reusability and universal applicability, in which the degradation rate constant of FNGK-10/PMS/Vis system was about 3.25 and 8.42 times higher than that of FNGK-10/PMS and FNGK-10/Vis system, respectively. Moreover, the introduction of kaolinite leads to the accelerated consumption of PMS. The FTIR, EPR and XPS spectra proved that the formation of Fe-N and cyano (C≡N) bonds induced the enhancement of the efficiency of electron transfer. The photo-generated carriers could be trapped by N vacancies and γ-FeOOH, which was favorable for the separation potency of photoexcited charge carriers and reduction efficiency of Fe(III) to Fe(II). This paper gave a new perspective on the coupling application of PMS activation and photocatalytic technology to efficiently degrade organic contaminants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Carbon doped TiO 2 /kaolinite composite was rationally designed and assembled. • The composite's reaction rate constant is about 25 times higher than that of pure TiO 2. • TiIII defects and localized occupied states are responsible for performance enhancement. • Kaolinite induced carrier effect plays important role in catalytic activity enhancement. • The composite material might be a promising candidate for degrading trace amounts of pollutants. In this work, kaolinite supported monodispersed TiO 2 with carbon regulation was prepared through rational design and different dimensions' assembly, leading to generation of TiIII species in carbon doped TiO 2 /kaolinite (C-TiO 2 /kaolinite) composite. The C-TiO 2 /kaolinite composite exhibited improved degradation performance towards ciprofloxacin under visible light, with a reaction rate constant of 0.00597 min−1, which is about 3.24 and 24.88 times higher than that of 2.0C-T (2.0% carbon-doped TiO 2) and pure TiO 2 , respectively. Based on various materials characterization methods and DFT calculations, it was indicated that the electronic structure was correlated with the changes in light absorption, charge carrier lifetime, and reactive oxygen species (ROS). The enhanced visible light responding ability could be attributed to the synergistic effect between natural kaolinite and nanosized TiO 2 , the formation of localized occupied states in the gap, and the formation of TiIII defects consisted of surface oxygen vacancies. All of them effectively increase the separation efficiency, migration velocity, and lifetime of the photoinduced charge carriers under visible-light irradiation. Overall, our study provides a promising candidate for effective degradation of trace amounts of pharmaceutical and personal care products and other highly toxic contaminants with the assistance of solar light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Diatomite and CoFe 2 O 4 was effectively assembled to activate peroxymonosulfate. • CoFe 2 O 4 /diatomite catalyst has lower metal dissolution rate. • Surface structure and crystallization dispersion improve activation performance. • The 1O 2 was the primary active substance for BPA degradation. • Weak basic condition enhanced PMS activation and increased BPA degradation. Porous magnetic CoFe 2 O 4 /diatomite catalyst (CFD) was rationally synthesized via a facile citrate combustion process. The relationship between catalytic performance and material properties of the prepared catalysts was comprehensively investigated by various characterizations, especially for the interface interaction between CoFe 2 O 4 and diatomite as well as crystallization regulation of CoFe 2 O 4. Overall, higher specific surface area, overspreading surface hydroxyl groups, better crystal dispersion and abundant surface-active sites make CFD have better degradation performance of bisphenol A (BPA) than pure CoFe 2 O 4 in the presence of peroxymonosulfate (PMS), and the pseudo-first-order reaction rate constant of 40-CFD (40% CoFe 2 O 4 /diatomite) is almost 5.32 times higher than that of pure CoFe 2 O 4. Besides, CFD has excellent magnetic properties, lower metal dissolution rate and good reusability. In addition, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and radical quenching experiments show that sulfate radicals (SO 4 −) and singlet oxygen radicals (1O 2) generated from the electron transfer of BPA molecule and valence state change of transition metals should be the predominant oxidation species. Moreover, possible degradation pathways of BPA are determined by the detection of intermediates derived from the results of liquid chromatograph–mass spectrometer (LC–MS). In brief, it is indicated that the CoFe 2 O 4 /diatomite composite material is an efficient and environmentally friendly catalyst, which has a great potential application in wastewater treatment by activating PMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]