Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Chemical Engineering Journal journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cej Activation of peroxymonosulfate by novel Pt/Al 2 O 3 membranes via a nonradical mechanism for efcient degradation of electron-rich aromatic pollutants Yan Wang a , Shaohua Hui a,b , Sihui Zhan c , Ridha Djellabi a , Jiayu Li a , Xu Zhao a, ⁎ a Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, PR China b School of Civil Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China c College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, PR China HIGHLIGHTS • Novel fexible Pt/Al 2 O 3 membranes activated peroxymonosulfate via a nonradical mechanism. • Bisphenol A was totally removed within 20 min in the Pt/Al 2 O 3 -acti- vated peroxymonosulfate system. • Electrons were transferred from the π- π aromatic ring of bisphenol A to peroxymonosulfate via Pt 0 . • The electron transfer from bisphenol A to peroxymonosulfate via Pt 0 was re- sponsible for bisphenol A degradation. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT ARTICLEINFO Keywords: Pt/Al 2 O 3 membrane Peroxymonosulfate activation Nonradical mechanism Heterogeneous catalysts ABSTRACT Novel fexible Pt/Al 2 O 3 membranes were prepared and applied as catalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants in the presence of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). 100% of bisphenol A (BPA) could be removed within 20 min by using fresh Pt/Al 2 O 3 -membrane-activated PMS, which represents outstanding performance compared to catalysts reported in recent years. The infuence of the PMS dosage, initial BPA concentration, and initial pH on BPA degradation were studied. The mechanism of BPA degradation in this system was investigated in depth. The BPA degradation process was not inhibited by the addition of radical scavengers to the system, and no free radicals were detected using ESR analysis. Additionally, the PMS molecules were only decomposed in the pre- sence of both the catalysts and BPA. The results also demonstrated that only electron-rich aromatics could be degraded by this system. Furthermore, in contrast to typical degradation pathways involving the generation of free radicals, no intermediates formed via % OH addition reaction were detected. Based on these fndings, a nonradical pathway was suggested rather than a conventional % OH/SO 4 %− radical-based advanced oxidation process (AOP) mechanism. BPA is efciently degraded by the transfer of electrons from its π-π aromatic ring to PMS via the noble metal Pt as transfer medium in this reaction. The fndings in this work broaden the under- standing of the use of activated PMS for the degradation of organic pollutants, and extend the application of fexible inorganic membranes in wastewater treatment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.122563 Received 2 June 2019; Received in revised form 6 August 2019; Accepted 20 August 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: zhaoxu@rcees.ac.cn (X. Zhao). Chemical Engineering Journal 381 (2020) 122563 Available online 21 August 2019 1385-8947/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. T