Coordinatively unsaturated metal sites (CUS) located at tetrahedral (Td) in spinel structure are highly effective for activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) in Fenton-like catalysis. However, the conventional Td−octahedral (Oh) connectivity in spinel structures restricts internal electron transfer, limiting the regeneration of low-valent metals and creating a trade-off between catalytic activity and long-term stability. Herein, we address this challenge by engineering a novel Td−Td connectivity in amorphous CoFeOx nanosheets (a-CoFeOx NSs). Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (sXAS) measurements reveal that in a-CoFeOx nanosheets, the ligand field symmetry around Co atoms is dominated by a Td coordination, in contrast to the Oh coordination in the crystalline state, which introduces Td−Td connection. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that the Td−Td connection in a-CoFeOx structure significantly strengthens electron transfer to activate PMS, which exhibited a first-order kinetic constant (kobs) of 0.27 min−1 for sulfamethoxazole (SMX) removal with high stability. This study reveals that the phase-engineered CUS can further enhance catalytic activity and provides a simple and scalable strategy for optimizing spinel-type catalysts.
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Nano Research 2025, 18(6): 94907476
Published: 17 June 2025
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