To effectively remove the endocrine disturbing chemicals in water

nano Fe3O4 supported on the sepiolite was prepared by the method of co-precipitation to catalyze persulfate for bisphenol A (BPA) removal. The catalyst was characterized by XRD

XPS

SEM

TEM

and N2 sorption experiments. The adsorption capacity toward BPA was studied with different solution pH values and temperatures

and effects of catalyst and persulfate doses on BPA removal efficiency were investigated. Results show that the catalyst with high specific surface area could effectively adsorb BPA

and the equilibrium absorption amount decreased with the increase of temperature

which could reach 11.6 mg/g at room temperature. The BPA (30 mg/L) could be degraded completely within 20 minutes with the catalyst dose of 2 g/L

PDS dose of 4 000 mg/L

and solution pH of 5. The catalyst could be recycled by external magnetic field

and the removal efficiency within 60 minutes decreased only 2.7% after 5 times of recycle. The BPA degradation was accomplished by a coupled process of adsorption and oxidation

and the adsorbed BPA molecular could be oxidized in-situ on the catalyst surface

where the radicals were produced. In this study

the magnetic-modified sepiolite was applied as persulfate activator in the advanced oxidation process for the first time. The coupled process of adsorption and oxidation was considered beneficial to increase the radical efficiency

which could provide a new avenue for trace-level contaminants removal from the point of catalytic oxidation system design.