In-situ chlorine-induced dynamic diatomic reconstruction for three electron transfer mineralization of high-salinity organic wastewater

Abstract

Surface-mediated electron transfer with excellent resistance to salt interference has been widely applied in the pretreatment of high-salinity organic wastewater. However, traditional two-electron transfer process often forms polymers, resulting in additional economic cost for subsequent purification of salt with impurities. Herein, we proposed a chloride-induced dynamic diatomic reconstruction strategy to upcycle anti-salt interference into in-situ salt utilization for the treatment of high-salinity organic wastewater. The dynamic reconstruction system enabled an unprecedented surface-mediated three-electron transfer that efficiently mineralized refractory contaminants into low-toxicity small molecules, thus avoiding the formation of polymers and halogenated byproducts. By taking advantage of three-electron transfer, the diatomic reconstructor achieved a normalized rate constant k-value exceeding 259.0 min⁻ (Zhang et al., 2024) M⁻ (Zhang et al., 2024) for various typical contaminants, surpassing most of the state-of-the-art catalysts. Only US$0.30 per ton of treatment cost and low environmental impact confirmed scalability and practical applicability. This work developed a novel salt-driven dynamic wastewater treatment approach, enabling sustainable and cost-effective cleanup of high-salinity organic wastewater.

Keywords: Diatomic catalysis; Dynamic reconstruction; High-salinity; Resource utilization; Wastewater treatment.