Paolo Colombo

In this study, in situ growth of CuO on the surface of porous geopolymer catalyst spheres (GC) was prepared through a simple method for the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade Orange I (OI) in water. GC‐0.01 exhibited an excellent performance with more than 95% degradation of OI within 30 min. The effects of PMS concentrations, catalyst dosage, Cl − , HCO 3 − , and humic acid (HA) on OI degradation in the GC‐0.01/PMS system were systematically investigated. The study of the mechanism showed that PMS combined with the catalyst to generate complexes on the surface of the spheres, which could degrade OI through an electron transfer pathway. In addition, a variety of reactive oxygen species, mainly 1 O 2 , were also present in the GC‐0.01/PMS system, which could also degrade OI. This work provides new insight into the application of oxide‐modified geopolymers in the activation of PMS for water purification applications.