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Cited by 112Advanced oxidation water treatmentEnvironmental remediation with nanomaterialsAdsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 106 of the 106 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 266 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

The synergistic effect of adsorption and Fenton oxidation for organic pollutants in water remediation: an overview

Open access
Song, Junzhe, Zhu, Linan, Yu, Sheng, Li, Guobiao, Wang, Dong·2024·RSC Advances
DOI 10.1039/d4ra03050hPMC PMC11495274
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Abstract

Water pollution from industrial sources presents a significant environmental challenge due to the presence of recalcitrant organic contaminants.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This overview reviews combining adsorption with Fenton oxidation for removing recalcitrant organic pollutants from water, arguing that adsorption pre-concentrates pollutants and supports catalysts to improve degradation. It surveys carbon-based materials, MOFs, and minerals/clays across medical, industrial, and urban wastewater applications.

Key findings

  • The synergy arises because adsorption captures pollutants via ion exchange, electrostatic interactions, hydrophobic attractions, π–π stacking, hydrogen bonding, and/or van der Waals forces, while also accelerating electron transfer and Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox cycling in Fenton systems. In one cited study, homogeneous and heterogeneous Fenton alone gave 79% and 54% decolorization with 59% and 33% COD removal, respectively; adding adsorption raised toxicity reduction to 95% and decolorization to 90%.
  • Support materials include activated carbon, graphene, carbon nanotubes, graphitic carbon nitride, biochar, MOFs, and minerals/clays. Reported examples include magnetic activated carbon degrading over 90% of 4-chlorophenol within an hour with >80% removal over five regeneration cycles; Fe3O4/RGO-2 with a maximum methylene blue adsorption capacity of 163.83 mg g−1 and complete MB degradation within 60 minutes; rGO/Fe NPs achieving 99.8% mitoxantrone removal at neutral pH; and Co0.8Fe0.2N-NC being 2.9 times more effective than traditional Fenton systems and 25.2 times more than conventional photocatalytic systems.
  • Applications span medical, industrial, and urban wastewater. For medical wastewater, avocado seed activated carbon plus solar photo-Fenton degraded fluconazole up to 80% and the remaining eight drugs in a mixture up to 99%; an iron–clay–cyclodextrin composite adsorbed and oxidized more than 65% of long-chain PFAS within 10 minutes.
  • The review concludes that future work should develop new adsorbent/catalyst composites, optimize conditions such as pH, temperature, and dosage, test complex water bodies, and advance economic large-scale technologies.

Methods

  • Design: narrative review/overview; the paper states that no new data were collected or analyzed. It focuses on non-biodegradable organic compounds and excludes heavy metals due to limited space and an existing recent review in that field.
  • Scope: mechanisms of Fenton oxidation and modified Fenton processes (photo-Fenton, electro-Fenton, photo-electro-Fenton), synergistic adsorption–Fenton effects, support materials (carbon-based materials, MOFs, minerals/clays), and applications in medical, industrial, and urban wastewater; the review contains 105 references.
  • Analysis: narrative synthesis with tables listing reported graphene/carbon nanotube supports and MOF-based supports with target pollutants, operational conditions, adsorption mechanisms, and Fenton mechanisms; no systematic search protocol or meta-analysis is described.

Limitations

  • Paper-stated: the review is limited to non-biodegradable organic pollutants and does not cover heavy metals such as Cr, Hg, Cu, and Pb. It also states that future study is needed on new adsorbent/catalyst composites, optimal catalytic conditions, complex water bodies, and economic large-scale application.
  • Paper-stated: the mechanism of the Fenton reaction still has disputes, although most scholars support the strong oxidizing role of ·OH.
  • Evident from the text: as a narrative overview, it compares performance numbers from heterogeneous studies conducted under different pollutants, catalysts, pH values, H2O2 doses, and reaction times, without a systematic quality assessment or quantitative meta-analysis.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1039/d4ra03050h

Cites

106 of 106 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 266 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 132 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 114
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 42
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 2
143 of 143

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    There have been no review articles on the synergistic effects of adsorption and Fenton reaction in recent years.

    “However, there have been no review articles on the synergistic effects of adsorption and Fenton reaction in recent years.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    MOFs inherently contain Fenton catalytic metals, providing them with natural Fenton catalytic capabilities.

    “Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) inherently contain Fenton catalytic metals, providing them with natural Fenton catalytic capabilities.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    g-C3N4 has exceptional activity and superior adsorption properties.

    “Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has emerged as a prominent carbon-based material due to its exceptional activity and superior adsorption properties.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    g-C3N4's rich nitrogen atoms readily capture transition metals for catalysis.

    “Its rich nitrogen atoms readily capture transition metals for catalysis.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Metal–organic frameworks have practical limitations such as high material costs and difficulties in mass production.

    “the practical limitations of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), such as high material costs and difficulties in mass production, necessitate the exploration of alternative materials.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Mineral/clay matrix materials are cost-effective and scalable for large-scale industrial applications.

    “attention has shifted towards mineral/clay matrix materials, which are increasingly recognized for their potential in large-scale industrial applications due to their cost-effectiveness and scalability.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Industrial wastewater is a significant challenge in organic pollution, characterized by a diverse array of organic contaminants.

    “Industrial wastewater represents a significant challenge in the realm of organic pollution, characterized by a diverse array of organic contaminants.”
7 of 7

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Figure 2 credits a 1991 source with a 2020 copyright

    Minor

    The Figure 2 caption attributes the reproduced figure to Najm et al.35 with a 2020 copyright, but reference 35 is dated 1991.

  • Fe3O4/CeO2 study is attributed to a silica reference

    Minor

    The metal-oxides section attributes a mesoporous Fe3O4/CeO2 composite to Liu and colleagues at reference 87. Reference 87 instead describes an iron-containing mesoporous silica material.

  • Abstract understates the number of references

    Minor

    The abstract says the review contains 105 references, but the numbered reference list extends to 108.

  • Sulfadiazine and sulfamerazine names conflict for the same study

    Minor

    The biochar discussion calls the pollutant in Deng et al.'s study sulfadiazine, while its Figure 6 caption calls it sulfamerazine. Both passages describe the B@Ni-F cathode.

  • Table 2 and text cite different sources for FeNi-BDC

    Minor

    Table 2 assigns FeNi1/15-BDC to reference 44, while the discussion attributes the FeNiX-BDC study to Wu et al. at reference 30. Reference 44 is listed as a study of CoFeN-NC materials.

  • Ciprofloxacin study conflicts with its cited reference

    Minor

    The text describes reference 66 as a corncob-biochar study removing ciprofloxacin. Reference 66 is titled as a study of Taihu blue algae-derived biochar removing chelated nickel, so the stated example does not match its cited source.

  • Table 2 and text cite different sources for Co0.8Fe0.2N-NC

    Minor

    Table 2 assigns Co0.8Fe0.2N-NC to reference 17, whereas the discussion assigns that material to Miao et al. at reference 44.

  • Fenton by-products described as both absent and polluting

    Minor

    The introduction says the Fenton reaction produces no harmful by-products, whereas the mechanism section says a homogeneous Fenton reaction produces iron mud that causes secondary pollution.

8 of 8

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Shah, 2024, Toxin Rev., 1
  2. Brillas, 2014, J. Braz. Chem. Soc., 25, 393
  3. Phan, 2021, J. Chem., 2021, e5841066

Cited by

Sorted by citations

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Related

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Metadata

Authors
Song, J., Zhu, L., Yu, S., Li, G., & Wang, D.
Affiliations
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
  • Washington State University (US)
Corresponding author
  • Yu, Sheng
  • Wang, Dong
ORCID
Venue
RSC Advances
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Published
2024
Volume
14
Issue
45
Pages
33489-33511
ISSN
2046-2069 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1039/d4ra03050h
PMC
PMC11495274
OpenAlex
W4403640695
Semantic Scholar
ed77cff574de855a91ad4b79d86556d2ebb3a355
Cited by
112
References
105
Citations by year
2026: 80 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 1
FWCI
2.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • RSC Advances (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (52374419)
  • Double Thousand Plan of Jiangxi Province (jxsq2020105012, jxsq2020101043)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Advanced oxidation water treatment
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental remediation with nanomaterials
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal
Keywords
adsorption, Fenton oxidation, advanced oxidation processes, hydroxyl radicals, organic pollutants, water remediation, carbon support, metal-organic frameworks, clay, activated carbon, graphene, carbon nanotubes, biochar, hospital wastewater, industrial wastewater, recalcitrant pollutants

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A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-11-08, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

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Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

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