Ferrous–tetrapolyphosphate complex induced dioxygen activation for toxic organic pollutants degradation

• Ferrous–tetrapolyphosphate complex could activate dioxygen to degrade pollutants.
• The degradation of pollutants is attributed to plenty of reactive oxygen species.
• The oxidized ferrous–tetrapolyphosphate complex could be reduced biologically.

In this study, we demonstrate that ferrous–tetrapolyphosphate complex could activate dioxygen to produce reactive oxygen species for highly efficient aerobic degradation of toxic organic pollutants at room temperature and pressure. Cyclic voltammogram study revealed the chelation of ferrous ions with tetrapolyphosphate could significantly reduce the redox potential of Fe3+/Fe2+ to efficiently activate molecular oxygen in air. The dioxygen activation ability of ferrous–tetrapolyphosphate complex was found to be related to its concentration and pH value in the solution. The mechanism of dioxygen activation induced by ferrous–tetrapolyphosphate complex and the degradation pathway of sodium pentachlorophenol were studied in detail. We also found that a kind of dissimilatory iron-reducing bacterium could reduce ferric-tetrapolyphosphate to ferrous–tetrapolyphosphate under anaerobic conditions and therefore regenerate the deactivated ferrous–tetrapolyphosphate/air system. This study provides a novel green oxidation method for environmental pollutant control and remediation.

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